| Fashion News North Carolina |
NCSU Art To Wear 2008 To Showcase Student Designs
Raleigh, N.C.-based North Carolina State University’s (NCSU’s) College of Textiles and College of Design will work collaborate to host the
seventh annual Collection: Art to Wear fashion show, to be held the evening of April 10, 2008, at the Court of North Carolina on NCSU’s main
campus.
The non-profit fashion show highlights the work of students from the two colleges. All classes within the colleges are eligible to participate;
students must submit their work for judging to a panel of jurors to be considered for participation. Organizers hope to top last year’s record
participation numbers of 15 designers, 1,500 attendees and more than 100 models.
Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, contact Liz Morrison, NCSU Art to Wear 2008 director, (919) 606-3914;
elmorris@ncsu.edu
Iris blue looks hot this year
It's going to be a blue year.
Iris blue, to be specific.
That's the prediction from Pantone, the paint company that also studies color trends for the fashion, cosmetic and home product
industries.
The company said last week that its version of iris blue (Pantone 18-3943) best represents the color direction in 2008, saying the color
mixes the calming aspects of blue with the mystical qualities of purple.
"As a reflection of the times, Blue Iris brings together the dependable aspect of blue, underscored by a strong, soul-searching purple
cast," says Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of Pantone Color Institute.
She said we can expect to see iris blue combined with deeper plums, red-browns, yellow-greens, grapes and grays.
Plenty of thoughtful homework went into making the selection, Eiseman said. The company looks at all aspects of what's going on in
the world, from what fashion designers are creating for runways to politics. The choice also is influenced by what's shown at annual
trade shows, and this year, that included plenty of cobalt blue and purple-blues in fashion, china, glassware and textiles.
The blue shade is a dramatic departure from this year's color of chili pepper red, a color that reflected a melding of cultures and later
showed up on anything from lipsticks to iPods.
Fill these shoes
Two new shoe stores have opened in Raleigh offering the latest in fashion at a variety of price points.
Shi by Journeys is new at Crabtree Valley Mall, and it's also the first one in North Carolina.
Inside, you'll find a fun collection of flats, wedges, pumps, sneakers, peep toes and boots, including brands such as Vans and Ugg, aimed
at 20- and 30-something shoppers. The prices are appealing too, with most of the shoes priced $40 and under.
The store is owned by Genesco, the same company that owns Journeys, Lids and Johnston & Murphy.
If you're willing to spend more, check out Lisa Disbrow's latest venture, Walk. The shoe store opened last week at North Hills in the
old Shop 2012 space.
Walk sells many of the same designer names that are in Disbrow's Scout & Molly's clothing boutique, including Nanette Lepore, and
other designer brands such as Theory, Jeffrey Campbell, Oh Deer!, Isabella Fiore, Jessica Simpson and Dru New York.
Tips from the cupboard
Want chemical-free shiny, thicker hair?
Lisa Grealish, a colorist at the Patrick McIvor Color Studio in Bethlehem, Pa., thinks she has the answer. She has come up with a few
do-it-yourself tricks that don't use anything unnatural. Actually, all of the ingredients might already be in your kitchen.
For thicker hair, she recommends adding 1/2 cup of rosemary leaves to a cup of water and then mixing it with half a bottle of your
favorite shampoo.
For softer hair, she recommends mashing one avocado and mixing it with a cup of coconut milk until it has the texture of a conditioner.
Apply it to your hair for up to 10 minutes and rinse.
For a more shiny, vibrant brunette color, take a pot of cooled to lukewarm coffee and pour it over cold-washed hair. Wrap hair in a
towel for 30 minutes and rinse.
Blondes who want more shine might want to shampoo and condition hair and then pour a cup of warm chamomile tea over their heads.
Fashion plates
What cooks and waiters wear, and why
By Adam Sobsey
Ask most cooks about their attire—some variation on a white chef's coat, baggy pants, comfortable footwear and a "hair restrainer"—
and they shrug and say something like, "That's just what we wear" or "That's what I got in cooking school." Why such resignation,
even though the coat is, as Piedmont co-owner Andy Magowan says, "the most impractical, stupid garment ever created"? (He wears
one anyway.)
As it turns out, there is some practicality to the chef's coat. The double-breasted design allows the cook to cover unsightly splotches by
rebuttoning, which the big knotted-fabric buttons allow to be done easily and one-handedly. The coats are two-ply in order to protect
against fire. And once upon a time, French cooks were required to wear white pants as well, although a houndstooth pattern—"checks"
in the kitchen vernacular—now prevails down below. (No one could explain this either. Why not solids? Stripes? Paisley? Shrug.)
Click for larger image • Drew Brown, left, and Andy Magowan of Piedmont in Durham wear trucker-style baseball caps instead of the
traditional toque while working in the kitchen. Brown's cap was airbrushed at the North Carolina State Fair; Magowan's was
customized with a Sharpie and a shot from a heirloom snub-nosed .38 by former Piedmont server Jessye McDowell.
Photo by Derek Anderson
But there is design as well as practicality. Once upon a time, the height of his toque (those old chefs' hats) indicated the cook's rank in
the kitchen. Drew Brown, Magowan's partner at Piedmont, noted that the toque is supposed to have 98 pleats in homage to the great
Escoffier cookbook, which contains 98 egg recipes. But: 1) That fact couldn't be verified, and 2) No one at Piedmont would be caught
dead in a toque. The cooks there wear trucker-style baseball caps designed by their former waitress, Jessye McDowell. The caps are
part of McDowell's "wearable art project" (visit www.thickskin.org or Roulette Vintage in Carrboro). She shoots thrifted clothes and
hats with a family-heirloom snub-nosed .38. (The Piedmontagnards' caps were each uniquely designed, post-bullet-hole.)
Yet Brown and Magowan don't disparage the chef's costume. "I do kind of like the tradition," Brown admits. "I don't mind wearing the
traditional French outfit." And he and Magowan also considered Piedmont's open kitchen before deciding what their cooks should
wear. "We look like a team" uniformly dressed, Brown says, so they all don the white chef's coats at night, along with McDowell's caps
(regulations are looser at lunch). But cooks at Piedmont aren't required to wear checks, whose parachute bagginess "makes anyone
who wears them look like a clown." Besides, Magowan noted, customers can't see Piedmont cooks below the waist. "When it's hot we
go pants-less," he smirked. (He was joking, but don't laugh: There are documented instances of bare-bummed chefs in fine kitchens.)
The only thing cooks really seem to care about is their footwear, and boy do they care about it. Brendan Reusing, co-founder of Chapel
Hill's Lantern, waxes nostalgic about a pair of great shoes he bought at a cooks' supply store in "downtown Paris" that finally wore out
years ago. After trying cheap sneakers, he eventually switched to cook-beloved Birkenstock clogs, which boast steel toes, mountain-
worthy treads and excellent ventilation. (Magowan made the switch as well after burning out countless pairs of running shoes.) Most
importantly, Birks—and Crocs, another popular chef choice—provide superb, crucial back and arch support, and as a bonus they're
adorable. Wearing them, even the most irascible chefs look a bit like a Tyrolean yodeler when they enter the dining room to mingle.
Waiters, on the other hand, pay surprisingly close, even fastidious attention to their generally unvarying clothes. There is a pointed
effort to add a human element to an often dehumanizing position.
Click for larger image • At Mo's Diner in Raleigh, 306 E. Hargett St., co-owner Holly Mohajer picks out the shirts for the wait staff to
wear twice a year. Wes Ammerman models Mohajer's fall/ winter selection, a classic dark blue 100 percent cotton pinstripe dress shirt
that keeps with the decor of the restored 1886 home and helps cover stains. "If you have an early red wine accident, it can be hard to
hide later on," said Mohajer.
Photo by Derek Anderson
Click for larger image • For the past four years the author has only worn one tie while on the job—a deep red knit tie. The color
communicates his authority, experience and ability to deliver a quality dining experience.
Photo by Derek Anderson
"I like to wear a tie that's a conversation piece," says Graham Weddington, of Nana's in Durham. "My LSU [Louisiana State
University] tie gets a lot of conversations started." (And those conversations encourage guests to trust their waiter.) The bullet-hole
designer McDowell chimes in: "I never worked without earrings. People would ask me about them, or other things that stood out about
me, because they'd realize I was a person." (And she does allow, "Sometimes I would consciously wear something low-cut" for that
extra focus-puller.)
If you're the type that thinks waiters are just hustling you for a big tip, you might be surprised at the genuinely high esteem in which
they hold their guests. At Piedmont, for example, waiters are granted more flexibility and less formality in their togs, but many of
them dress up anyway. Some wear ties, even though they are not required. Not only does the tie show pride, courtesy and
professionalism, "we've got some really style-y dudes here," Magowan says.
Most waiters agree cleanliness is next to godliness on the job, not only in clothes but on the face. "I pretty much always shave right
before work," says Nana's Keith Errickson, "sometimes in the bathroom literally 15 minutes before we open. I know the customers
can't really see a day's worth of stubble in low lighting, but if I can feel it on me, I feel unprofessional."
Yet as much as waiters want you to be aware that they're unique human beings, they're also playing a role—waiting tables has much
in common with performing in a play—and Crystal Morel, of J. Betski's in Raleigh (she has also worked at Magnolia Grill and Enoteca
Vin), says her restaurant-issued black vest and gold tie "are like a costume that helps me get into character." (The black and gold
match J. Betski's décor.) This sort of awareness goes all the way down to accessories: "All my pens have to match," she insists.
And there is waiter comfort, as well, which is not only about preserving occupational health but also about fitness outside the
restaurant. Nana's Keith Errickson, who exercises daily and strenuously, rotates two pairs of shoes. "I don't want my body to conform
to the posture of just one pair because I think that's bad for your whole skeleton and muscular system, so I change them up every night.
The Danskos are better for my back, and the Birkenstocks are better for my ankles and feet."
Like a lot of writers, I write "waiter" on my 1040 (the two occupations, as it has often been wryly noted, are different only by a single
letter). It was a relief to discover, in interviewing fellow waiters, that I am not alone in my occupational habits: my own matching pens
(Parker Jotters, to be specific), my sworn-by footwear (Blundstones, from Australia, $140) and my wine tool (Pulltap).
And for the last four years, I have worn the exact same tie to every single shift. It's deep red, and I like to think that it commands
attention when I am at the table, so that I can help my guests. And believe me, I want to help you. So do my colleagues. We are
attentive professionals who care genuinely about your experience in our restaurant. And we're also human beings. This is how we buy
our underwear, feed our children, grow our IRAs, and support our writing. And it's how we take ourselves out to dinner, too. Trust us.
Happy dining out this holiday season, and please tip 20 percent.
Raleigh, N.C.-based North Carolina State University’s (NCSU’s) College of Textiles and College of Design will work collaborate to host the
seventh annual Collection: Art to Wear fashion show, to be held the evening of April 10, 2008, at the Court of North Carolina on NCSU’s main
campus.
The non-profit fashion show highlights the work of students from the two colleges. All classes within the colleges are eligible to participate;
students must submit their work for judging to a panel of jurors to be considered for participation. Organizers hope to top last year’s record
participation numbers of 15 designers, 1,500 attendees and more than 100 models.
Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, contact Liz Morrison, NCSU Art to Wear 2008 director, (919) 606-3914;
elmorris@ncsu.edu
Iris blue looks hot this year
It's going to be a blue year.
Iris blue, to be specific.
That's the prediction from Pantone, the paint company that also studies color trends for the fashion, cosmetic and home product
industries.
The company said last week that its version of iris blue (Pantone 18-3943) best represents the color direction in 2008, saying the color
mixes the calming aspects of blue with the mystical qualities of purple.
"As a reflection of the times, Blue Iris brings together the dependable aspect of blue, underscored by a strong, soul-searching purple
cast," says Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of Pantone Color Institute.
She said we can expect to see iris blue combined with deeper plums, red-browns, yellow-greens, grapes and grays.
Plenty of thoughtful homework went into making the selection, Eiseman said. The company looks at all aspects of what's going on in
the world, from what fashion designers are creating for runways to politics. The choice also is influenced by what's shown at annual
trade shows, and this year, that included plenty of cobalt blue and purple-blues in fashion, china, glassware and textiles.
The blue shade is a dramatic departure from this year's color of chili pepper red, a color that reflected a melding of cultures and later
showed up on anything from lipsticks to iPods.
Fill these shoes
Two new shoe stores have opened in Raleigh offering the latest in fashion at a variety of price points.
Shi by Journeys is new at Crabtree Valley Mall, and it's also the first one in North Carolina.
Inside, you'll find a fun collection of flats, wedges, pumps, sneakers, peep toes and boots, including brands such as Vans and Ugg, aimed
at 20- and 30-something shoppers. The prices are appealing too, with most of the shoes priced $40 and under.
The store is owned by Genesco, the same company that owns Journeys, Lids and Johnston & Murphy.
If you're willing to spend more, check out Lisa Disbrow's latest venture, Walk. The shoe store opened last week at North Hills in the
old Shop 2012 space.
Walk sells many of the same designer names that are in Disbrow's Scout & Molly's clothing boutique, including Nanette Lepore, and
other designer brands such as Theory, Jeffrey Campbell, Oh Deer!, Isabella Fiore, Jessica Simpson and Dru New York.
Tips from the cupboard
Want chemical-free shiny, thicker hair?
Lisa Grealish, a colorist at the Patrick McIvor Color Studio in Bethlehem, Pa., thinks she has the answer. She has come up with a few
do-it-yourself tricks that don't use anything unnatural. Actually, all of the ingredients might already be in your kitchen.
For thicker hair, she recommends adding 1/2 cup of rosemary leaves to a cup of water and then mixing it with half a bottle of your
favorite shampoo.
For softer hair, she recommends mashing one avocado and mixing it with a cup of coconut milk until it has the texture of a conditioner.
Apply it to your hair for up to 10 minutes and rinse.
For a more shiny, vibrant brunette color, take a pot of cooled to lukewarm coffee and pour it over cold-washed hair. Wrap hair in a
towel for 30 minutes and rinse.
Blondes who want more shine might want to shampoo and condition hair and then pour a cup of warm chamomile tea over their heads.
Fashion plates
What cooks and waiters wear, and why
By Adam Sobsey
Ask most cooks about their attire—some variation on a white chef's coat, baggy pants, comfortable footwear and a "hair restrainer"—
and they shrug and say something like, "That's just what we wear" or "That's what I got in cooking school." Why such resignation,
even though the coat is, as Piedmont co-owner Andy Magowan says, "the most impractical, stupid garment ever created"? (He wears
one anyway.)
As it turns out, there is some practicality to the chef's coat. The double-breasted design allows the cook to cover unsightly splotches by
rebuttoning, which the big knotted-fabric buttons allow to be done easily and one-handedly. The coats are two-ply in order to protect
against fire. And once upon a time, French cooks were required to wear white pants as well, although a houndstooth pattern—"checks"
in the kitchen vernacular—now prevails down below. (No one could explain this either. Why not solids? Stripes? Paisley? Shrug.)
Click for larger image • Drew Brown, left, and Andy Magowan of Piedmont in Durham wear trucker-style baseball caps instead of the
traditional toque while working in the kitchen. Brown's cap was airbrushed at the North Carolina State Fair; Magowan's was
customized with a Sharpie and a shot from a heirloom snub-nosed .38 by former Piedmont server Jessye McDowell.
Photo by Derek Anderson
But there is design as well as practicality. Once upon a time, the height of his toque (those old chefs' hats) indicated the cook's rank in
the kitchen. Drew Brown, Magowan's partner at Piedmont, noted that the toque is supposed to have 98 pleats in homage to the great
Escoffier cookbook, which contains 98 egg recipes. But: 1) That fact couldn't be verified, and 2) No one at Piedmont would be caught
dead in a toque. The cooks there wear trucker-style baseball caps designed by their former waitress, Jessye McDowell. The caps are
part of McDowell's "wearable art project" (visit www.thickskin.org or Roulette Vintage in Carrboro). She shoots thrifted clothes and
hats with a family-heirloom snub-nosed .38. (The Piedmontagnards' caps were each uniquely designed, post-bullet-hole.)
Yet Brown and Magowan don't disparage the chef's costume. "I do kind of like the tradition," Brown admits. "I don't mind wearing the
traditional French outfit." And he and Magowan also considered Piedmont's open kitchen before deciding what their cooks should
wear. "We look like a team" uniformly dressed, Brown says, so they all don the white chef's coats at night, along with McDowell's caps
(regulations are looser at lunch). But cooks at Piedmont aren't required to wear checks, whose parachute bagginess "makes anyone
who wears them look like a clown." Besides, Magowan noted, customers can't see Piedmont cooks below the waist. "When it's hot we
go pants-less," he smirked. (He was joking, but don't laugh: There are documented instances of bare-bummed chefs in fine kitchens.)
The only thing cooks really seem to care about is their footwear, and boy do they care about it. Brendan Reusing, co-founder of Chapel
Hill's Lantern, waxes nostalgic about a pair of great shoes he bought at a cooks' supply store in "downtown Paris" that finally wore out
years ago. After trying cheap sneakers, he eventually switched to cook-beloved Birkenstock clogs, which boast steel toes, mountain-
worthy treads and excellent ventilation. (Magowan made the switch as well after burning out countless pairs of running shoes.) Most
importantly, Birks—and Crocs, another popular chef choice—provide superb, crucial back and arch support, and as a bonus they're
adorable. Wearing them, even the most irascible chefs look a bit like a Tyrolean yodeler when they enter the dining room to mingle.
Waiters, on the other hand, pay surprisingly close, even fastidious attention to their generally unvarying clothes. There is a pointed
effort to add a human element to an often dehumanizing position.
Click for larger image • At Mo's Diner in Raleigh, 306 E. Hargett St., co-owner Holly Mohajer picks out the shirts for the wait staff to
wear twice a year. Wes Ammerman models Mohajer's fall/ winter selection, a classic dark blue 100 percent cotton pinstripe dress shirt
that keeps with the decor of the restored 1886 home and helps cover stains. "If you have an early red wine accident, it can be hard to
hide later on," said Mohajer.
Photo by Derek Anderson
Click for larger image • For the past four years the author has only worn one tie while on the job—a deep red knit tie. The color
communicates his authority, experience and ability to deliver a quality dining experience.
Photo by Derek Anderson
"I like to wear a tie that's a conversation piece," says Graham Weddington, of Nana's in Durham. "My LSU [Louisiana State
University] tie gets a lot of conversations started." (And those conversations encourage guests to trust their waiter.) The bullet-hole
designer McDowell chimes in: "I never worked without earrings. People would ask me about them, or other things that stood out about
me, because they'd realize I was a person." (And she does allow, "Sometimes I would consciously wear something low-cut" for that
extra focus-puller.)
If you're the type that thinks waiters are just hustling you for a big tip, you might be surprised at the genuinely high esteem in which
they hold their guests. At Piedmont, for example, waiters are granted more flexibility and less formality in their togs, but many of
them dress up anyway. Some wear ties, even though they are not required. Not only does the tie show pride, courtesy and
professionalism, "we've got some really style-y dudes here," Magowan says.
Most waiters agree cleanliness is next to godliness on the job, not only in clothes but on the face. "I pretty much always shave right
before work," says Nana's Keith Errickson, "sometimes in the bathroom literally 15 minutes before we open. I know the customers
can't really see a day's worth of stubble in low lighting, but if I can feel it on me, I feel unprofessional."
Yet as much as waiters want you to be aware that they're unique human beings, they're also playing a role—waiting tables has much
in common with performing in a play—and Crystal Morel, of J. Betski's in Raleigh (she has also worked at Magnolia Grill and Enoteca
Vin), says her restaurant-issued black vest and gold tie "are like a costume that helps me get into character." (The black and gold
match J. Betski's décor.) This sort of awareness goes all the way down to accessories: "All my pens have to match," she insists.
And there is waiter comfort, as well, which is not only about preserving occupational health but also about fitness outside the
restaurant. Nana's Keith Errickson, who exercises daily and strenuously, rotates two pairs of shoes. "I don't want my body to conform
to the posture of just one pair because I think that's bad for your whole skeleton and muscular system, so I change them up every night.
The Danskos are better for my back, and the Birkenstocks are better for my ankles and feet."
Like a lot of writers, I write "waiter" on my 1040 (the two occupations, as it has often been wryly noted, are different only by a single
letter). It was a relief to discover, in interviewing fellow waiters, that I am not alone in my occupational habits: my own matching pens
(Parker Jotters, to be specific), my sworn-by footwear (Blundstones, from Australia, $140) and my wine tool (Pulltap).
And for the last four years, I have worn the exact same tie to every single shift. It's deep red, and I like to think that it commands
attention when I am at the table, so that I can help my guests. And believe me, I want to help you. So do my colleagues. We are
attentive professionals who care genuinely about your experience in our restaurant. And we're also human beings. This is how we buy
our underwear, feed our children, grow our IRAs, and support our writing. And it's how we take ourselves out to dinner, too. Trust us.
Happy dining out this holiday season, and please tip 20 percent.
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