Cutting Fashion [Part 2]: Runway Show

Sooo a fashion show is hard work, yes? I spent hours upon hours sewing my seven looks, fitting them on the models and then fixing the looks again, working out hair and makeup details, finding models, finding music for the show, doing rehearsals, etc. It was a lot of work. And some days while I was crazily sewing my looks I had fleeting thoughts wondering if it was all really going to be worth it. What if no one liked my collection? What if I didn't finish and had to send awful looking garments down the runway? What if nothing turned out the way I had sketched and designed? What if it wasn't everything I hoped it would be?

I think that no matter what line of work we're in, we are going to question ourselves every once in a while, and wonder if we made the right choice. Wonder if we would have been better suited somewhere else. Or wonder (and fear) if we might not even belong anywhere.

All these things crossed my mind at some point or another, whether it was a week before the show, or months ago when I didn't even know I'd be doing a fashion show. I doubted myself, I did. And then I got to be a part of all this:

And as I watched all of that happen, all of my designs walking out on the runway for hundreds to see, I knew I was doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. I was never happier, and that smile you see on my face above, is 110% real.

As I stood on the stage with all of the other designers at the end of the show, I felt radiant. And I thought, this is what being successful feels like. This is what it's like to follow your passion. Just so you know, it feels amazing.

I will never ever forget that day, that moment of my life. Because of that, I don't think I will ever ever stop designing. Or smiling. :)

[to see backstage photos and read part 1, go here]

A Dress...and Choices

Is it just me or do I look super awkward in these pictures?! Except the last one, I like that one. This is the dress that I made a while ago. I made it without a pattern and still, almost 6 months later, I love it so much. Obviously it isn't perfect or perfectly made, and I do not want to brag, but this dress makes me happy. :)

Ya know, it's funny. Well not funny. My life is...crazy. I have so much going on right now and life is so hard and struggles come my way every single day. It's also good too, I love my job, roommates, school, and I feel so blessed. Life right now, is just...life, at it's best. And I am pretty darn happy living it right now. I think I am realizing these days that we choose happiness in our lives, nothing that happens in it, good or bad--although it can influence our choice--can make or break the fact of how happy or unhappy we are. So maybe instead of me saying life's good, because it isn't always good, I should just say that I'm good. I'm doing well in the life that was given to me and that I'm living.

We always hear so much about how attitude influences everything and it tends to go over our heads. But it's true. Listen to those true words, because I'm realizing that it does. I am happy in my crazy life and that is all pretty much my choice. You can choose too. :)