Fashion Designer Diaries #3: Thrifting at The Garment District, Cambridge Science Festival, Upcycling, & More!

 9/27/24

Last Monday I met up with somebody to go thrifting. We want to a place called The Garment District.. It's a thrift store that I first discovered on Instagram. I was drawn to this place because of its $2 a pound of clothing section. $2 a pound for clothes is crazy. Back in my hometown you'd be lucky to get a single garment for less than $5. Since I've been wanting to upcycle lately, I was hoping to pull some basic garments out of this pile.

(The photo quality isn't great because I was trying to preserve my old phone's battery)

This place is huge. I honestly wasn't expecting it to be as big as it was. I also wasn't expecting it to have an emphasis on vintage clothing and costumes.

The first floor focuses on costumes.

Aside from just the costumes themselves, accessories and makeup can also be found here. This will definitely be an interesting place to check out once Halloween rolls around. I'm not sure if everything on this floor is secondhand.

Most thrifting can be done on the second floor. This is where ticket price items can be found. What I liked about this area was the size, but also the fact that clothing is sorted by style. This makes thrifting for specific items much easier. The clothes here are undeniably more interesting than the clothes at the Savers near my hometown.. The pieces here had a greater level of detailing and quality compared to what I'd find in my hometown. While I didn't buy anything during this trip, I enjoyed looking through all the clothes on this floor. 

I really wish I'd found a Liz Lisa poncho here...

I really loved the details on this gothic dress. Gothic isn't a style I'd wear, but I have a strong appreciation for it.

This nightgown is giving Rose from Golden Girls. Too bad it was too big for me. (And I didn't want to spend the money)

For a thrift store, the garment district is definitely on the pricy side. I didn't mind it too much. (It's not like I was buying anything) However, I feel like part of the reason I didn't mind is because I know that Depop sellers would charge way more for this stuff. I also understand that vintage stuff is always going to be more pricey.

This is also giving Rose from Golden Girls. If this store was a little cheaper I might have caved and bought this.

If I had fond this dainty top back at my local Savers, I would have jumped for joy.

My BFF LOVES army attire. She freaked out when I texted her a picture of their army jacket section.

Am I the only one who thinks vintage granny clothes would make great pajamas? I considered buying this but it was way too expensive for me.

I have a friend whose style is clowncore and I thought she'd like this because of the ruffle down the middle. I also fell like this top could be styled in a gothic manner.

My BFF has a red outfit and black outfit that reminds me of something a character from the game Splatoon would wear. She even has a matching umbrella that I call her "splatbrella", after a weapon in game. I thought these next two tops would match that same vibe.

After browsing the second floor we went back downstairs for the $2 a pound section. The clothes here were generally far less interesting than what was upstairs. I spoke with a few people who were thrifting. They were all resellers to some extent. One of them told me that Saturday at opening is when they restock the pile, and that's when all the good items go. A reseller that was there when The Garment District first opened said the pile didn't even look the same as it was that morning. I definitely want to go back there, maybe in a moth or so, when they restock the pile to see what a pile with all the "good stuff" looks like.

I found a wedding dress (not a great one) in the pile. It, like a lot of other garments in the pile, was dirty. I'll bring gloves next time.

One good find was this Banana Republic jacket. It was slightly dirty, on the lining, but had no other visible damage. Banana Republic is a pricier brand, so I can imagine someone who wears this style of clothing to be happy to find it. I hope to find more finds like this while thrifting in the city. Even if I don't plan on making any purchases, it's nice to actually see a variety of interesting clothes in a thrift store for a change.

What are you doing there, Piglet?

9/30/24

Yesterday I got up at 6:50 to get in line for the grand opening of Tao's Newbury Street location. Tao's is an asian lifestyle, skincare, and cosmetics store based in Boston. I had originally intended to go on the 28th and then head straight to the Cambridge Science Festival. My plan was to arrive at 10:00 to be one of the first 50 people in line. (Tao's was giving away a bag of freebies to the first 50 people in line) Tao's opened at 11:00 so I figured I would be one of the first 50 people in line if I arrived then. Then, at 8:45, I saw on Tao's Instagram story that there was already a long line! I was still walking to grab breakfast at this point, so I realized I wouldn't be part of the first 50. Luckily this was a weekend long event so I decided I would be up early the next day to get in line. I arrived in line at 7:55 the next morning. I was the sixteenth person in line.

This was the line at 8:54.

Im absolutely in love with this store! It's similar to 

Reiwatakiya with a bigger selection.. I saw a few of the same products there, including the face wash I'm currently using.. I love how the design of the store is clean, yet still has enough color to give the customer dopamine when walking in. 

I wanted to test the makeup more, but its was a little pricy and this area was extremely crowded. I was wearing an all white outfit, so I didn't want to take the chance of getting any product on my favorite Liz Lisa sweater.

The store sold some of the cutest Sanrio items I've seen in a while. I wanted to go home with a Hello Kitty or My Melody plushie, but I couldn't justify the prices.  I spent $35 on snacks and the cheaper skincare items. There was a broad price range on skincare items, however, I found this place to be generally more expensive. (I should mention that the two grand opening days were 20% off the entire store)

I was going to buy an umbrella until I found out that the smallest ones were over $20! The Kuromi one on display in the image was one of the normal sized ones, so it would be even more expensive!

These dress up dolls were super cute! However I wasn't about to pay $90 for them. I really wish I was rich, because everything from the packaging is sooooo adorable!

Little Red My Melody was so cute, but not worth the price given her size.😭

Once I get some money I want to start collecting Sanrio items like.

I went to a nearby cafe afterwards to get myself a chocolate cannoli and take pictures of what I bought:

I'm going to be sooooo tempted to buy more snacks from Tao's the next time I'm on Newbury Street.

The mochi had a cream and strawberry center! It's super delicious. 

I've been wanting to drink more tea recently, specifically matcha!

My biggest insecurity is my hollow eyes and dark circles, so I hope this works.

I used this last night. It took A LOT of gunk off certain areas of my nose, but not others. I'm going to try it again tonight to see if the sections left untouched were too wet or too dry.

I used it this morning and my skin feels really soft!

These are the freebies:

I think people will think I'm weird if I walk around with this baby's butt.

I' don't have a picture of it but I got a lash serum from this same brand. I've always wanted to try one, so this was a nice surpurise.

I did end up walking aw2ay with a plushie after all!

There's so much skincare that I'm not sure how I'll be able to test all these products. I really enjoyed this event and saw a lot of cool looking people. Seeing all these interesting people makes me excited for the different types of friends I'll make in the city!

10/2/24

Now I want to talk about the Cambridge Science Festival. The Cambridge Science Festival is an event that hosts various activities and panels related to science and engineering. This year there was a focus on the fusion of science and fashion, so I decided to reserve tickets for two of the fashion panels.. 

The first panel I attended was What Are We Wearing In 50 Years Time?. The panel opened with conversation and predictions regarding the future of fashion 50-150 years from now.. There was talk about how the status quo in regards to fashion will change 50-150 years from now. Will we learn from the past? How will we react to the threat fast fashion poses to our environment and human rights? Can we use the past to predict the future of fashion? How will the production process of clothing change? Each of the panelists had their own opinions and predictions. One panelist made a connection to the Industrial Revolution, which I thought was interesting. They suggested to look at the future of fashion through the lens of a pendulm swinging. The Industrial Revolution pushed for mass production. Especially in the last 20 years we have seen fast fashion become faster and cheaper with the rise of companies such as Zara, H&M, and Shein. This panelist believes that while mass production will always be around, and mass production technology will only improve and become more efficient, that there will be a decent sized push for clothing made with craft. I definitely think (and sincerely hope) this is true. Especially with the rise of secondhand apps such as Depop, people have access to clothing that triumphs over fast fashion in its quality and uniqueness. There's already plenty of fast fashion available on secondhand sites and in thrift stores, so the need to buy directly from fast fashion companies should dwindle. It's my belief that with all the textiles we already have on this planet, we should leave creating new clothes to the designers and brands that have a passion for it. I also think that a future with less fast fashion is a future where people have more style, so the thought excites me.

There was a decent amount of discussion regarding the future of fibers during the beginning of the panel. Randall, one of the panelists with 53 years working expierence, predicts that the main 5 fibers (wool, cotton, rayon, polyester, & nylon) used in making textiles won't go anywhere as they have been working in the apparel industry just fine for 50 years. He predicts that electronics might be incorporated into the 5 fibers. He also predicts that recycling the main 5 fibers will become more prominent because better materials can be made from recycled fibers and the production process is more efficient using recycled fibers.

The majority of the panel didn't focus on what the status quo for dress would be in 50 years time. Rather than focusing on that, the conversation shifted towards the topic of the future of wearable technology. There was talk about how integrating electronics into fibers can be used in the military and in the medical industry. One example was a project that hoped to make gloves to help people who had lost neurological connections due to having a stroke. Another talking point was the idea of imbuing fibers with medicine.

I had a 30 minuet break between that panel and the next so I admired the work on display. Some of it was made by students from my school!

The second panel was Transformers: Color, Silhouette, and Pattern. This panel focused on technology more than I had anticipated. It opened with how one panelist had created a pair of pants that could trick facial recognition software into not recognizing you. She accomplished this utilizing, pattern. Another panelists there was more of a business analyst who discussed some basic psychology of color and how color sells. Another panelist was a teacher who I found out teaches at my school! Sadly, I didn't get the chance to introduce myself. He talked about his experiences getting students to experiment with color, the basics with coming up with a silhouette, and the importance of fabric in relation to a silhouette. The panelists wanted the audience to walk away contemplating how technology might be the future of fashion and how fashion is ultimately about people.

I'll be writing an article about this event for my school's fashion magazine! We have a club meeting tonight in which I'll figure out more details.

10/4

Yesterday I finished upcycling these two tops! I'd like to do some more thrifting to see what else I can upcycle.. I was going for a kawaii look.

That's all for this blogpost!