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Weekly Journal Entry (December 5, 2016 - December 11, 2016) I must say it: last week has got to be the most enlightening for me. Since it was finals week, the stress levels for everyone were undeniably high and the struggle was, to say the least, real. During my individual consultation, I got to review and reflect on my experiences as a clothing technology student this semester. It was wonderful hearing that my professors felt my dedication and love for the degree program. I honestly never figured out what I wanted before I got here. I didn't know that I was going to be studying clothing tech. But I am happiest here, and I have no regrets. After the reports for the client wardrobing project and action research, I also learned some valuable lessons especially with working in a group. Professionalism should prevail above all else. Take initiative. Make everything work despite the shortcomings. But still, don't try to do everything at the last minute. Review and practice. Lastly, I learned how to maintain a positive outlook and to never give up. I have my own strong points and I should learn how to develop them. I need to learn from my mistakes so I could become stronger. Being in CT has been a great help in molding myself into a better person, and I was so glad I took the chance to apply to this degree program.

Weekly journal entry (for November 28, 2016 - December 4, 2016) Today I visited an orthopedist to have my neck, back and left arm pains checked. It was difficult for me to do schoolwork this week because of the worsening pain in my upper body. I've been having headaches since the last week, and I kept on dismissing them as stuff I can handle. After all, I've been in constant physical pain for five years and I've learned how to ignore it. I knew it was getting worse when, just a few days ago, I found it unable to write or draw. My left hand was hurting really badly and there were times when it felt numb. I was diagnosed with myofascial pain syndrome five years ago, also known as chronic myofascial pain. Until now, I've had only one therapy session. I talk about this because lately it's become a big hindrance to my academics. I was too late in figuring out that the reason why I'm so distracted and lost was because of this lingering pain in my body. I've read in some sources that it causes depression, but I'm too scared to ask the doctor if it really does. I didn't feel like opening up such a personal matter (even if I knew I should). The pain does disrupt my capability of focusing but I never really blamed it on that. At this point, I think it is absolutely alright to do so. It is hard to talk to people, even my close acquaintances about this illness. People just respond, "Yeah, but don't we all get muscle pains?" The thing is, mine has been going on for five years, and it never stops. It gets worse on some days. And the pain lasts for weeks. People sometimes think it's an excuse to get away with things because "You look alright," "You don't look like you're sick at all," "Talaga? Hindi halata." It's become really depressing for me, honestly, that people may never come to understand how I'm always feeling. However, I know I will be alright and I definitely still would be able to give my 100% in my education. If I have to go back to rehab again to heal, I definitely would. I don't want any physical disability to get in the way of achieving my goals. I'm putting this out here because I just don't want anybody to think that I'm being lazy. I want everyone to know that I'm doing my best, but when we're all doing our best, there are just times when we fall apart and I believe it is okay to do so.

The Wardrobe Project: Part 1

Weekly blog entry (for November 21, 2016 - November 27, 2016) Today, before I delve into the details and post a more formal blog regarding my wardrobe project, I want to share my experience. I have always arranged my closet--a lot of times, actually, like once or twice a month--just to clean it up and recount all the clothes I could and could not use. I never realized that there was more to learn; that there was a more systematic way to organize my own clothes than what I have been doing. The first thing I realized was that I haven't been taking care of my clothes. A few of my clothes got discolored due to long-time storage and forgetting to let them out in the air to let the fabrics "breathe." Some of my clothes also got very wrinkly, resulting in me having to wash and iron them again. I wasn't storing them properly. Usually, in the morning; I would just rummage through my closet for anything I could wear and it would become disorganized. I would only rearrange it weeks later, when I couldn't tell which clothes are for school and which clothes I wear at home (I have always sorted my clothes by school-wear and house-wear). By doing this clustering activity, I was also able to identify the central theme of my clothing. My liking towards Tokyo street fashion reflects in the clothes I wear. It was amazing to realize that I am also wearing it. wasn't aware that I was following the Tokyo street style all along. I decided to do the activity this week to gain experience and ideas for our client wardrobe project. As I have mentioned last week, I had a rather difficult time working on our group project. So far, I can say that doing this with my own wardrobe has helped me prepare for the actual project with our client. Next week I will share my shopping experience, both for my own wardrobe and our client's wardrobe.

Weekly blog entry for (November 14, 2016 - November 20, 2016) I have to admit that I had some kind of emotional breakdown this week. I felt like I'd been bottling up and holding back from letting my emotions out for the entire span of this semester, and this week was the trigger. I've never felt so helpless than I'd ever been these past four months. I was slower in doing my tasks this week, couldn't focus on my academics, and cannot squeeze out the best of my abilities, creative and intellectual. I've been overthinking my problems--from the littlest problems at home and in school, to the biggest problems the Philippine nation is facing today. I found it too much to handle. But as much as I'd like to hide in the comfort of my cold, dark room and sulk over my problems, I made this week an important lesson I should learn from and strive to do better. This week was scheduled for our client interviews, wardrobe analysis and planning. We were only able to finish about less than a half of the assigned tasks. I was so excited for these activities to finally happen, but they didn't end well. My groupmates and I were so lost when we were facing the task at hand. We almost had no idea what to do and ended up wasting a lot of time. Honestly, it was too much for me to bear. But again, it's an important lesson for all of us and we should avoid wasting time crying over spilled milk. If we ever need to start over, then we must. And we must do it as quickly and as best as we can. From here on out, we know we are better than we were before. Tomorrow my groupmates and I will be meeting again to do the wardrobe analysis. We will keep in mind our previous mistakes and do everything we can to improve and give the best output we can.

time and time again

Weekly Journal Entry (for November 7, 2016 - November 13, 2016) It is always wonderful to realize how much we have improved since the start of the semester, and that we will continue to grow and develop our skills and become great clothing technologists in the future. Personally, I may not still be good at some things, like being more creative in my designs, but very soon, if I work hard enough, I will be able to achieve that easily. This week I realized how important it is to practice. I must practice every day, whenever I can. It is not good to rely on inspiration alone, but I must also rely on the fact that skill takes practice. To be completely honest, making our trend boards for our CTID staff clients this week wasn't a breeze for me. I had a pretty difficult time, which was (ideally) not supposed to happen because we have done this before. And it was easy for me to point out the reason why it was difficult. It was because I lacked practice lately. I may have to rethink my creative practices (again and again!) and always check if they are effective. Another important lesson I've learned is to always be aware of time constraints. Deadlines aren't to be extended when we deal with clients in the future, so I always have to learn to be quick in doing my tasks without ever sacrificing the quality of my work.

thinking beyond

Weekly blog entry (for October 31, 2016 - November 6, 2016)

I was having these thoughts while writing my final essay for English 1 (I wrote an introductory guide to clothing technology for high school students choosing their degree programs in college). I came to the realization that there are only a few weeks left before the semester ends. I am glad that I learned a lot, to say the least. Truth be told, I have made much more sense of my life now as a BSCT student than I ever did before. I don't know much about what lies ahead in the road to being a clothing technologist, but I know I am willing to walk down this path. I might feel this way because before I got into the BSCT program, I was a lost college student. Extremely lost. It was a terrifying thought for me to not be able to find something that I want to do for the rest of my life, and that time, it seemed to be the case. In high school, I never knew what I wanted to become. I was only living in the present, not caring about what I needed to do in the future. I guess I thought I had a lot of time to waste on my youth. So now I'm glad that I finally found something I would fight for.

I was thinking that, to help other students decide what they want to study in college, I could write a guide to BS Clothing Technology in UP Diliman in case they are interested in taking this degree program. This essay will be read and reviewed by my English 1 classmates, and they will be helping me guarantee the effectivity of my essay to convince high school students to study CT in college.

Clothing is a silent language. Whatever we wear, our clothes communicate to everyone around us. Whether we choose to be expressive or not in our clothing, they already give off a message (clothing cues) and everyone who receives the message may not necessarily interpret it according to our own interpretations. Which is why, all of us are not supposed to judge immediately based on what we see and know. It is good to be open to other possibilities beyond our knowledge. This is important especially because there are different cultures. It is important that we respect others. As clothing technologists, we have to be aware of clothing cues because of the simple fact that we work with clothing. Different cultures perceive and wear clothing in many different ways. In deciding a target market, for example, we are supposed to make clear the messages we want to give through our clothing designs.

On a brighter note, I am quite excited to do our client interviews this week. I have been looking forward to this since the first month. I’m also nervous, but more excited than nervous. Hopefully we all do well!

Weekly blog entry (for October 24, 2016 - October 30, 2016)

Learning about what motivates people to wear clothes both in the physical and psychological aspects has helped me think more deeply about the needs that I want to address as a designer. Some psychological goals [in wearing clothing] include expression of personality, individuality and aesthetic preferences. It is important to consider this along with the physical goals of a specific client or a certain target market. For ready-to-wear clothing, since people don’t have just one specific physical or psychological goal, I think it is important to survey and read about different needs.

I find it rather saddening to see many people turn to plastic surgery to improve their physical features, but I completely understand most of the the reasons for doing so. Some of these reasons are not vanity. Many people who resort to plastic surgery used to be discriminated, bullied, laughed at. They want a good place in society. They want to be accepted. (There is a South Korean movie titled “200 Pounds Beauty,” where the main character, a young talented woman, undergoes total body modification just to be “accepted” by society. This is the same reason given by many young women paying for cosmetic surgery). This is the result of the setting standards, by the media, or by any societal authority (designers included). The concept of an ideal body type or an ideal face are widespread. Different cultures have different ideals, and many get insecure of their own physical features because of these body standards. Clothing used to be the immediate way to fashion the body, but now the abilities of clothing to do so seem to be ignored. In terms of fashion, clothing used to be the center of attention. Now it is the body.

I want to make good clothes. Good clothes that people will love because they don’t feel insecure wearing them. Good clothes that don’t choose only one specific body type to dress up. Good clothes that don't require the wearers to adjust their own body types just to fit into the clothing. As much as possible, if I design a dress, for example, the dress has to be suitable for whoever wants to wear it.

Designing clothes according to different physical needs

Weekly blog entry (for October 17, 2016- October 23, 2016)

: The most important thing to keep in mind when designing clothes (according to physical need) is that humans don’t have just one specific form. There are a large number of factors to consider–and most of these factors are ignored, I’ve realized. I have also noticed the lack of diversity in the human figure on runways. I think one reason for this may be that fashion shows focus on the clothing. Being a clothing tech student with a major consideration for body structure, I hope to make more people able to become stylish, no matter their body types. I want every piece of clothing I will design to be able to fit the physical need of every body type. This is one of the things I want to achieve when I become a clothing technologist and a fashion designer.

After learning about using design elements and principles to address certain physical needs, one of my creative exercises is to look at the list of garment details I have in my croquis book and analyze which garment detail would best flatter a certain body form. Sometimes I would come up with my own silhouette or garment detail. It is nice to know that such a fun activity would let me further gain knowledge and skill in designing.

Growing up, I myself was very insecure about my own physical appearances. I got a pear-shaped body as soon as I hit puberty. My already morena skin got darker because I studied in the mountains when I was in my first year of high school. I was diagnosed with scoliosis and MPS–which I haven’t recovered from until now–and my back was slouchy. I was not very fashionable when I was younger–I always got on the safe side. I covered my body altogether with an oversized shirt, straight cut jeans and worn-out sneakers. Even though I liked to dress up dolls, I never wanted to creatively dress my own body. It feels a bit sad when I look back at my past experiences (or the lack of it) with clothing and styling. But through those experiences, I now want to be able to make others feel confident in their own skin by dressing them up in the best way possible. All in all, I must say that learning about physical needs in terms of clothing is a very important and personal topic to me, and one of my goals as a clothing technologist is to satisfy to physical needs of each and every body type.

(E)utopia, Upcycled garment and mood board for the concept of Utopia vs. Reality

Why do people wear clothes?

This is one the most important questions that we have to answer as CT students. What drives people to wear what they are wearing?

We had to answer this question by creating a conceptual framework. Me and my groupmates drove to the assumption that we wear clothes because of cultural influences. This is true, but the answer we gave was only part of the whole.

After rounds of discussions, we were asked again the same question. Why do we wear clothes? Eventually we got to the heart of it. We wear clothes because we need to wear them.

Need is relative to age, gender and status. Different people have different needs, and this is also true for clothes. Now, whatever people are wearing, wherever they are, has become relevant to me. I now have this urge to study what people around me are wearing, and connect them to what I have learned this week. I find it very meaningful, as I felt that I can understand my surroundings better just by studying the clothes that the people are wearing. Most UP students wear clothes that suit the UP environment (i.e. wearing comfortable shoes or slippers perfect for walking, or running around when going to classes, or commuting), Female salespersons need to wear makeup in addition to wearing their uniforms.

Now, I’m wondering: what needs do I want to address? There is the fact that as a CT student of UP, I have to contribute to the country through clothing. I have yet to answer this new question.

Weekly Journal Entry (for October 10-16, 2016)

For this week’s blog post, I would just like to express how glad I am for having three GE subjects this semester. My professors have taught me a lot about life inside and outside CT. In my CT majors this semester, we are taught how to express ourselves through clothing designs, and in the future, contribute to the society through our chosen career path, while my GEs greatly contribute to making further sense of why we’re in UP, why we’re studying in our chosen degree programs.

In one of my GE classes, English 1, our professor talked about the Duterte administration, Trump as a presidential candidate (and how such a thing is relevant to us Filipinos) and issues about gender, the Philippine economy…I could go on. My professor can talk about anything and everything. All these are heavy topics, I have to say, and these spark countless, endless debates. I sometimes think of the world as a plethora of unsolvable problems. But, as long as we exist, I believe, it is our mission to make sense of the world we live in and to try to find solutions to each and every problem we have, small or big the problems may be.

Through my chosen concept for my capsule collection, I hope to be able to suggest a possible solution to some of our society’s problems. If I am able to achieve that, then, it will be very fulfilling for me. And then, I will be able to proudly say that I am for clothing technology.

Weekly blog post (October 3, 2016-October 9, 2016)

As much as I've been enjoying everything we've been doing in CT so far, CT life also been very challenging. It really tried to push me to what seemed to be my limits, but I realized that I could always go further from there. I've come a long way and I know I can go further if I work hard enough. I am always, always looking forward to improving my skills and my knowledge. The challenges this week were: the fourth and fifth plates, and upcycling garments. The plates had to do with techniques of applying color and texture to clothes and that it should match the color story and concept that we thought of (which was our third plate). The upcycled garment should answer the question, "What do I want to say?" and that it should be parallel to the mood board in terms of using design elements and principles. Come the actual process of garment upcycling, I felt anxious because I am still not good at sewing by hand. It was really challenging for me to do the task. Challenging, but fun. With so much to do this week, exams and reading assignments from other courses, I also had to learn to manage my time well without sacrificing the quality of my outputs. All in all, I think it went well. Today my friends and I went to Cosplay Mania 2016, one of the biggest cosplay conventions in the country. I bought clothes, accessories and stickers from the kawaii culture. It was a good day to relieve the stress brought about by the hectic, exam-filled week. It was a CT learning experience as well, because (1) I've been checking out how some cosplayers design their own clothes given limited resources, and (2) I learned a lot about Japan's culture based on the Harajuku stores that were put up inside the convention. I'll post some pictures later on to share the fun I had today. Weekly Journal Entry (for September 26 - October 2, 2016

Friendship: photo from the movie Orange.

One of the most meaningful things for me this week was learning about the country’s and the world’s problems, more profound than what I have learned in the previous years. One of my readings for an English class was about the economy of the Philippines and how a subtle form of slavery is evident in the country at present. These lessons lingered in my mind the whole week and so it influenced the concept I had for my CT 11 midterm project.

I have always wanted to make an impact on the world, no matter how small a speckle of dust I might be in the universe. My mood board is, I believe, a baby step to achieve that goal. I want to be able to tell stories about the conditions of people and society, both the good and bad, through my creations and designs. I want to be able to share what I’m seeing from my own perspective. And it’s nice to be able to express these through clothing and fashion design.

Now that we have learned about design principles, it’s up to us to convey our messages though our mood boards and clothing designs.

Weekly Journal Entry (for September 19-25, 2016)

Last Saturday we had our makeup class. I never thought I would be able to attend free makeup classes because usually these were expensive.

Ate Katcy taught us everything we needed to know about putting on makeup. I was especially happy to learn about primers and setting sprays! Most of them are expensive but I have been looking for some alternatives and maybe they could work. Back in high school, when we would pay makeup artists for school events such as prom, they didn’t consider primers and setters to be necessary when they are actually the most important. It’s sad because their service was expensive but they didn’t bother to let our makeup stay in our faces. Our makeup would melt before the events actually started.

My partner was Kat, and I was happy to be the one doing makeup. I was always nervous about putting makeup on other people’s faces. But it was surprisingly comfortable and I got used to it quickly. My makeup skills are a different story, though. I’m not good at it yet! I'm ages apart from being a pro. However, it was good that I got to try.

The first part was beauty makeup. I had a hard time contouring the face, and putting on eyeshadow and eyeliner. How do fashion and makeup bloggers make it look so easy? It would take me a few more practices to get everything right.

The second part was conceptual makeup, and Kat and I chose an underwater theme. I tried my best to make her look like a mermaid. We were told to experiment with lines and colors. Our base color was blue, and we were advised to add some yellow highlights on the face to make the blue colors pop.

All in all, I loved the makeup class. I gained a ton of useful knowledge and experience that day. I want to practice a few more times and be good at makeup.

Coral reef photo from pouted.com

H E L L O, C O L O R So far I've been having fun gaining new knowledge as a clothing technology student. I've been looking at things mostly under the light of my chosen career path, something I never knew I would be able to do. Now it's finally happening, and although most of the time I feel like I'm not good enough, my professors always remind us that nobody is perfect at the start. I'm only at the starting point and I know it's alright to make mistakes. We have to work hard. I feel like I've already gotten to know a lot of good fashion designers. Before I realize it, I've been talking about clothes 75% of the time. Wherever I am, I think about designing clothes and how to help the Philippines by being a CT student. I think about ways to improve my skills. I wear myself out by thinking and doing. Compared to the past, I can confidently say that I'm more productive now. This week was a colorful journey, literally and figuratively. Our lesson was about colors--we looked at the colors of our surroundings, took photos of the colors and applications of color harmonies that we found beautiful and l interesting. All of us had one favorite photo--that which we could get inspiration for our very own set of colors for our mood boards. I found this week's set of activities very enjoyable. My favorite topic was the color forecasting. I want to participate in scientific studies about colors in the near future. Honestly, I didn't know it was such a detailed process and that it could take a lot of time to pick out, or even name colors. But I loved that I learned all about it. Weekly Entry (for September 12-18, 2016)

My Sunday Evening: Extra

My aesthetic

Creative Exercise: Colors

Sunday Evening (part 2)

These pictures were taken indoors at Trinoma. I especially appreciate the neutral colors, because they give off a feeling of relaxation.

1. The first picture was taken at the footbridge to Trinoma. I love the dim golden lights and lines in this photo. It looks somewhat romantic.

2. I took this after our grocery shopping. There is also a small part of the actual grocery store and the counters that give color to this picture.

3. The shadows of the circles give texture and a low contrast of dark and light to these plain white walls.

4. I like this photo of the North Carpark area. The neutral colors and geometric shapes give the place a sophisticated look.

5. This photo is a combination of golden colors. Formal, sophisticated and a bit romantic.

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