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11.12.09
the weekly
THE WEEKLY MEMO It’s always irked me that we have such a humdrum style rap. The college guidebooks my younger sister is wading through have the same bleak style forecast as the tomes I read four years ago. According to the 2010 edition of Yale’s Insider’s Guide to the Colleges, the typical Wildcat is an “upper middle class prep, complete with Uggs and North Face-clad exteriors.” I’ll leave the socioeconomic part of that pigeonholing for another conversation or Memo, but have we truly been stuck in a style rut since 2006? For the weekly’s first-ever fashion extravaganza issue, we’re trying to make sense of our school’s fashion landscape. Many of us seem to have transitioned, or at least rotated, from Uggs to Hunter rain boots since last fall (check out our breakdown of the unofficial NU uniform in our cover spread). For full disclosure’s sake, I own both of the aforementioned items, as do many of the chicest students I spot on this campus. They (and I, as I’d like to hope) just try to integrate these functional staples with zanier vintage finds and thoughtful takes on experimental trends. Also for our cover, Dana Farber took some of those experimental trends for a test-run on the catwalk that is our campus — maybe you spotted her wearing lace bunny ears or serious shoulder padding by the Rock the other day. Whether our latest issue leaves you damning the proliferation of plaid, (re) considering a foray into the fashion industry after reading our What If or trying on a denim shirt just for kicks (more on that in Why We Like), I’d say we’ve done our job.
SURVEY IN NORRIS
NU: No runway
This might be one of our most surprising poll results yet. Of 100 students asked, 61 said “yes” to “Do you think Northwestern students are fashionable?” Two girls surveyed say they “struggle to keep up” with the fashion scene at NU, but others more appropriately voiced that “NU students are fashionable in their own way” and “there’s a crowd of fashionable people but a lot of others bring down the average.” Maybe those 61 only hang out in the fashionable circles, or more likely they suffer from some sort of color blindness making them incapable of seeing the shades of faux suede on all the boots tramping around campus. But for the majority of students surveyed, any objective observer would probably agree when we say it’s time to invest in an issue of Vogue.
Do you think Northwestern students are fashionable?
61
Yes
39
ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV
weekly
THE
EDITOR IN CHIEF
alexandra ilyashov ilyashov@u.northwestern.edu
MANAGING EDITOR
karina martinez-carter k-martinez-carter@northwestern.edu
No
contact the weekly at: 847.491.4901
ASSISTANT EDITORS
send confirmed and denied tips to the managing editor
ART DIRECTOR
want to join our staff? e-mail our editor in chief
tara kalmanson t-kalmanson@northwestern.edu olya leptoukh o-leptoukh@u.northwestern.edu paulina lopez paulinalopez2010@u.northwestern.edu
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR
jaimie vaillancourt j-vaillancourt@u.northwestern.edu
A weekly supplement to THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN.
COPY EDITOR
confirmed THE ROCK GOES GREEN After one of our editors got herself on the unofficial listserv of all the middle-aged graffiti artists who shaped the Chicago graffitI scene in the ’80s, she’s learned lots of useless gossip but finally something useful: eco-friendly spray paint. Chicago graffiti artists are going green. (Maybe they were inspired by last week’s issue?) The buzz is over a new eco-friendly spray paint made with organic pigmentation and natural resins, rather than lead, and packaged and labeled with recycled materials. American graffiti artist Caleb Aero founded the ecofriendly spray paint company Blubber Colors and has already painted the Berlin wall with the new paint to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its fall. To all those who plan on painting The Rock: Consider Blubber Colors. The environment (and your brain cells) do not appreciate the extra lead. LUPE VISITS… BUT DOESN’T SING First of all, Lupe Fiasco was here? Secondly, why was Lupe here? The back story: Wednesday night, the Center for Student Involvement sponsored “The History Channel: The People Speak College Tour” to promote a new documentary airing on the History Channel in December. To promote the documentary based on Howard Zinn’s books, Michael Ealy, an actor in the TV show “Sleeper Cell,” and hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco both performed a reading in Leverone on Wednesday. Lupe read from “Muhammad Ali on the Vietnam War.” Mr. Fiasco, we just wish you’d used your vocal chops for “Superstar” or “Daydreamin’” in addition to
jonathan simrin jsimrin@u.northwestern.edu
& denied
the reading. The Center for Student Involvement not only called NUIT and Edge Audio, but also the designer of Leverone to make sure your acoustics were up to par. Sounds concertready to us. SECURITY CAMERA HIDE-AND-SEEK Since the sexual abuse incident that happened at the Technological Institute earlier this week caught us all off guard, we investigated video surveillance on campus. We all know there’s a “Rock Cam,” but what else? Turns out all residential buildings — plus Ryan Field — have cameras, but especially inside academic buildings, cameras are scarce, says Merrill Silverman, director of university security systems. Of the 250 security cameras on the Evanston campus, every single one feeds into the “campus-wide video network” run by University Police. UP did not choose locations for every single one of those cameras, though. Some of the individual schools have installed them, but we’re guessing that might be more to protect pricey equipment rather than students. “There are some cameras that monitor many places at once,” Silverman says. “There are two cameras on the roof of Tech that monitor many of the surrounding buildings.” All these cameras are “state of the art,” he says, and do well in “lowlight situations.” And they’re all fewer than three years old — some only months old. Too bad they don’t have the time or enough staff to watch the screens live, even though they’re all trained to do it. Generally, the only time they watch is after something’s already happened. Does this calm your nerves? WEEKLY EDITORS
WHAT IF...
You were headed into the fashion industry? Three students discuss what it takes to get into the industry and stay there Kathryn Coggins’ plunge into the fashion kind of forecasting style,” she says. “We have creworld began at summer camp in Martha’s Vine- ative consultants that give us the theme of the seayard. When Coggins adeptly calmed a sobbing son and we go from there. We get a lot of inspiracamper, his mother was impressed and followed tion from vintage.” Stacy Congdon, a Weinberg senior, is a brand her around the rest of the week. Lucky for Coggins, her new fan was the design director of Marc ambassador for American Rag. Her job focuses on by Marc Jacobs Accessories. She was impressed event planning and creating buzz about the Amerwith Coggins’ style and leadership ability and ican Rag brand, especially among students on campus. She’s planned fashion shows and concerts wanted to give her an internship. It’s a dream come true for many. As the line in an effort to draw attention. She takes advantage goes in The Devil Wears Prada, a job in the fash- of her self-described “girlie” style by representing ion industry is one “a million girls would die for.” American Rag when she gets dressed every day. An economics major interested in fashion, But getting into such a competitive, multi-billion dollar industry — and then surviving once you’ve Sarah figured she could merge the best of both gotten a foot in the door — takes dedication and worlds with a focus on the business end of fashion at Diane von Furstenberg. Her job included keeppassion. As Coggins learned, getting that stellar intern- ing track of DVF clothing sales to boutiques as well as factory and wareship requires having house inventories. connections. Weinberg When you’re designing But jobs in fashion senior Sarah, who asked aren’t the best fit for for her name to be these things you’re kind everyone. changed due to concern of forecasting style. “It also was not as over jeopardizing future analytical as I would job prospects, interned have liked,” Sarah says. at Diane von Fursten- -Kathryn Coggins, Weinberg senior “I got the impression burg over the summer. Sarah also reaped the benefits of having a fashion from some of my co-workers that there wasn’t a world “in,” albeit through a more common scenar- really strong formal training. There wasn’t strong io than Coggins’ camp counselor fairytale story. feedback.” But now that Sarah has learned the industry The tangled web of who’s who among fashion professionals is yet another reason Sarah wanted doesn’t offer the dream job she thought it would, to remain anonymous. “I knew someone who she has had to cope with finding a non-fashion job kind of knew someone who worked there,” she with only fashion experience on her resumé. “It was definitely a difficult realization,” she says. “If you just blindly send your resumé they’re says. “Sophomore year was like, ‘Oh, this is what I pretty much going to throw it out.” Internship experiences differ for everyone, want to do for the rest of my life’ and I guess I’ve but intern tasks in the fashion industry generally realized over time that it wasn’t what I wanted to entail completing whatever will boost the brand’s do.” But others are still planning to pursue fashion cache. Coggins, a Weinberg senior who studies art his- careers. Congdon will follow in this mindset next tory, researched the Fall 2009 line and helped de- year as a merchandiser for Abercrombie Headvelop the Spring 2010 line during her time at Marc quarters, and Coggins will spend five weeks trainby Marc Jacobs Accessories, but her individual ing to be an assistant merchant at Abercrombie & responsibilities varied from day to day. She kept Fitch. (Although their names and jobs are similar, track of samples, updated the design board and we promise they’re two different people!) “I always want to be involved in fashion,” Cogmet regularly with production and production development for discussion. She even sketched gins says. “Not necessarily in the design end, but some days and worked backstage at a Marc By the analytical with the creative. It’s wearable art.” Marc Jacobs fashion show. “When you’re designing these things you’re JULIA HASKINS
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