salt lake city!

i landed friday from my 5-day trip to salt lake city, where i was attending the national outdoor retailer convention. all the outdoor suppliers were there, meeting with vendors and checking out new product.


mmm stainless airport bathroom... this bag came back home stuffed with fabric to the size of a beachball.


big ol' ugly things on the horizon


swanky old people suite (with no fridge, wtf?)


if i could pare down my own closet like this... haha yeah right.

at the convention, i was representing the apparel design department for FSU in the Project OR competition. we had 48 hours to complete a prototype outdoor garment, using the newest high tech materials from the show sponsors, as well as what we could source on our own from the floor. you can check out the episodes here, they're kind of cute even if the music gets annoying!


here's my women's insulated, light-weight wind shirt!


the mood board and the fabric/component specifics. the design went through a ton of changes from the original, but i did stick with the same fabric. there were a lot of things to learn about making garments in this industry, like there are hardly ever buttons used.


the main body is "warrior silk" by brookside fabric, which is currently being used to make track suits for training for the marines and the army. there's also thermal regulating fabric by outlast for the shoulder inserts and the pocket linings, organic cotton trim, recycled polyester zips from ykk, and it's insulated with 3m thinsulate.


the core is fully lined and quilted in thinsulate, with a pattern to flatter the female form. the sides are open and belted, to be blousy. the trim on the belt, as well as the neck edge, glows in the dark!


now here's the picture of me with some of the show organizers... and my winning design! this means i get to go back to utah again in january for the winter OR show, to network and help out with round 4 of project OR.


one last one... now i'm back in tallahassee and resuming staying out way too late and extreme debauchery. i'm getting really inspired to make high-tech clothes to aide in said extreme debauchery... reflective and glow in the dark cycling caps, rad looking windbreakers, maybe even some compactable swimsuits so everybody quits swimming in their underwear... nahhhhh. what a life!