Parsons Fashion Design Basic Supply List & NYC Shop List

Sew ;)…you’re starting Parsons Fashion Design this Fall?  EXCITING!  I graduated from the AAS program in May.  I am almost a bit jealous of all of you starting this week - I loved meeting everyone and learning from such amazing professors...but, this is about you, not me, so here goes:

Your teachers will tell you the specifics when you get to class, but I wanted to share my basic supply list.  Over the semesters, I’ve learned that these things will get me through my construction classes!

Basic Supplies:
- Measuring Tape
- L-Square metal ruler
- Variform Hip Curve metal ruler
- 18” x 2” clear plastic ruler
- 6” x 1” clear plastic ruler
- French Curve (and/or Vary Form Curve Rule – metal – Parsons Professor Luz Pascal designed the first version of these!  She's amazing, by the way!)
- Paper Scissors
- Fabric Scissors (you will want a really nice sharp pair!)
- Embroidery scissors or thread snips (small scissors for when you are sitting at the sewing machine/serger)
- Size 10-13 hand-sewing/embroidering needles
- Pins (probably #17 satin steel, or dressmaker pins – just buy the box, you’ll use them!)
- Push Pins
- Wrist pin cushion (you could make one!  Just put a button on under your fabric “pillow” to protect your wrist from long needles & pins!)
- Thread (get white, black, and a color of your choice in 100% cotton)
- Muslin (your teachers will tell you what weight to get depending on the project)
- Pattern Paper (has 1” dots and markers all over it and comes in rolls by the yard.  This is actually called “Marker Paper” in the real fashion world, because it allows you to lay out the pattern and see how much fabric you need for each full pattern.)
- Manilla “Sloper” Paper (like manilla files, but a little thicker and usually green on the other side – often come in huge rolls like fabric)
- Red/Blue Pencil
- Chalk
- Pencils & Pens!

I still think that you should go to class before purchasing, as teachers may request a specific type of muslin, ruler, pattern-paper, pencil, etc…but it’s good to know what you might be carrying around and the size of bag you may need!

There are tons of great stores in the Garment Center, but for these basics I would head (between 7^th & 8^th Avenues) to Sil (257 W. 38^th Street), Panda (247 W. 38^th Street), and/or Steinlauf & Stoller (239 W. 39^th Street).  Elegant Fabrics (222 W. 40^th Street) is a great place for swatching (about 2” x 3” pieces of fabric), but they are really over-priced to actually buy fabric from.  They also sell pattern paper (and give students a 10% discount – really convenient since it is NEXT DOOR to 232 W. 40^th Street!).  At 208 W. 40^th Street is “Style Fabrics” (though at this time, they don’t have a name plaque anywhere, so just look for the number 208), and they have great prices for being so close to school and carry some good knits.

Good luck & Happy Shopping!

<3 A.

AAS Fashion Design Program Overview

Ciao all!

I work part-time as a Social Media Assistant for Parsons and here are some answers to a lot of questions that newly accepted students have been asking me!

AAS Fashion Design Program Overview: 

Technically 65 total credits (curriculum here), but anybody with a BA will transfer 21 liberal arts credits and anyone with certain art classes in their first degree may be able to transfer 31 (and can therefore be “Fast Track” if they so chose).  For students needing to take all 65 credits, it will take them four semesters (two years).  Students needing 44 credits can do it in 3 semesters.  And students needing 34 credits can do Fast Track which is one crazy year, or chose to spread it to 3 or even 4 semesters (there are tons of amazing classes to take).  Courses are 2 hours and 40 minutes, one day per week with the exception of Construction 2, which is two class periods per week for a total of 5 hours and 20 minutes per week (usually right in a row, but can be two separate days if taken in the evening).

There are three Construction 1 classes: Sewing, Draping, and Pattern-Making.  I recommend taking them in that order if you are part-time (or all in your first semester if you are full-time).  You cannot take Construction 2 until these three classes are done.  (Fast Track students will take Construction 2 and 3 in the same semester - it's a lot to learn!)  The rest of the classes have some leeway, but I also recommend taking Drawing 1 and a computer CAD class (Photoshop or Illustrator) in your first semester, probably along with Process & Skills & Textile Survey or History.  If you can, take a Drawing class EVERY semester or at least do Mr. Ogawa’s workshop (he is definitely an amazing teacher) – he has a workshop once per week, then you will be ahead – drawing/illustrating fashion is most likely what you will be doing in a Fashion Design job.  Being able to do flats in Illustrator and fabric design in Photoshop will also be amazingly helpful and learning Photoshop so you can do Mood boards for any classes that require it will also be great throughout your time at Parsons and beyond!

There are, of course, tons of electives (and sometimes competitions) to chose from, so read all of those emails!  (I heard there were 15 coming-up for the next year!!!  Wow, I’m jealous!)  And definitely take your resume to Parsons Career Services ASAP to get the log-in information for College Central (but you need their log-in to get the Parsons-specific internships), where all internships are listed.  Sometimes an internship will last you just a week (leading up to and/or including Fashion Weeks), or will be for longer (like a semester or a year even, if you love it!). 

Oh, and read everything you can now about FUSION (and Facebook) to find out if you are interested in applying.  It’s a great competition between Parsons and FIT every year, but it isn’t planned by Parsons Administration, so they don’t send out email reminders.  (I’m still bitter that I missed the deadline in the Fall!)  You illustrate a collection for the Fall deadline, are chosen in the Fall, and then design your collection (and make it) and have the runway show in the Spring.  It’s grueling, but an unbelievable opportunity.  This also means that you get to better compete with BFA students who make their entire thesis collections and get them photographed.  We do not make thesis collections in AAS, and don’t get the opportunity to have photographs taken (unless you do that on your own, which some students did), so our portfolios look entirely different from BFA.  I don’t necessarily see this as a disadvantage, because most fashion designers don’t actually make their collections, they just illustrate them!  (Most employers won’t care to see the photographs anyhow, just your illustrations – ie: can you get your ideas across, and can you use Photoshop & Illustrator?) 

The electives I took were TAILORING (you just make one tailored jacket from Mr. Proscia’s patterns), but learn a lot of tailoring secrets and techniques), MERCHANDISING WORKSHOP (it was a competition for Under Armour), SHOE DESIGN (if you take the BFA class, like I did, you actually make a pair of shoes under the direction of Howard Davis.  Your first semester, you have to make flats, but if you take it again, you can make heels – wish I would have known that so I could have taken it twice!), ECO-FASHION: SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS (lots of information about eco-techniques and eco-designers – one of my favorite classes at Parsons and I heard Parsons will be incorporating a lot more eco-techniques in the near future, even starting in every construction class in the Fall), SILK-SCREEN PRINTING (really just for fun – loved it), TEXTILES (with David Leung – we learned manipulation techniques; dyeing, smocking, pleating, yo-yos, cording, etc… - I don’t know if it’s still around, but I loved it – it is not the same as Textiles Survey), & HAND EMBROIDERY & APPLIQUE BEADING (with Vashti Vertuil – just get it okayed with your advisor first so you get the credits!  I still use this class all the time and I took it before Construction 1 – Sewing and then aced that class after!)!  I hope that helps a little bit, but those are just a SMALL percentage of the electives offered!  I’ve heard great things about the Accessory Design classes, hand- & machine- knitting classes, Couture & Avant Garde Techniques classes, and many more.

Okay, that is a lot of information for one blog post, but let me know if you want to know more!

Yours truly,

Alex

The girls!

Wearing our Jackets!

Parsons AAS is here!

I wish you could see the details - these clothes are amazing - way to go everyone!

This was at the Parsons Benefit Show this afternoon at Chelsea Piers.  Great show!  I took a video, I'll try to post it soon!

Yours truly,

Alex

Sketches!

Sketches!, originally uploaded by Alexandra Whatton.

My first Fashion Studies class at Parsons - and this is my homework?! I'm in love.

Dream on!

~ Alex