After another month I have plenty to talk about, starting with a very memorable Halloween, I posted for October just before halloween and so that's why it's in my November post. Obviously in England halloween in a huge deal and for weeks before all major supermarkets and stores do entice it in some way, here it is completely different and I think it could actually be easily missed. Other than select costume shops no where sells halloween outfits and as I'm discovering with everything in Milan the ones that do are so overpriced. It terms of where to go flyers were given out around my Universities area on the week before for various parties and events but other than that there wasn't a lot of advertisement I saw. As this was our first real night out since we arrived we decided to spend the night with the majority and joined the other erasmus students going to a bar called 'D'oor' which we now refer to as 'the dirty D'oor' located on Corso Di Porta Ticinese. Dressed as three glittery vampires we had the usual pre-drinks at our house and turned up so drunk everyone told us to go home! Another lesson learnt, people here do not drink to get drunk like us British hooligans but instead it's very rare to see someone really drunk! In the end all three of us went home at different times I myself going to McDonalds on the way back and falling all the way down the stairs, massive cringe. As always though in the morning you can laugh about it.
The bar we visited that night has actually become a bit of a regular place for us because it is student cheap. It's not much to look at or very nice inside and some of the people in there can only be described as strange but they do cocktails for 5 euros that are 4/5 spirits to soft drink and so if your going out it's a cheap night. It is also very close to a square in front of the
St Lorenzo Maggiore Basilica where it is a thing to take a drink and sit down to chill out. I stumbled across this walking back from a late night of Shopping on a Friday but from about 8pm people start to sit down in the square and drink and then at 2pm in the morning the police come to move everyone out and the area is cleaned. It is legal to drink on the streets in Milan and most the bars in the area offer cheap drinks to take away and sit in the square or walk up and down the street. Music is usually played from somewhere and in the few times I've been someone always has a guitar. When full the square has an amazing atmosphere and it's definitely a spectacle to be experienced. The pictures below are the square itself, empty and us with a couple of friends from NABA feeling worse for wear after several rum and colas.
It is also this month that I have tried plenty of aperitivos. Aperitivo is a Milanese thing held daily at most bars and cafes between the hours of 6pm till about 11pm, although this changes bar to bar, where with any cocktail purchased you can also get a buffet. The idea behind it is to help the busy working people to catch up with there friends straight after work having a drink and a nibble to eat before then going home to have their evening meal. For us this is dinner. You can go up to the buffet as many times as you desire but it can look rude if you do over indulge. The best one I have found so far is at a bar called Ginger Cocktail Lab on Via Ascanio Sforza, Milan. The cocktails themselves are absolutely incredible but the food which is tailored towards vegans is also the tastiest I've had plus it's in a fantastic location on the second canal.
Most the bars I've tried have been in the popular district of Navigli where I live, this is the area with two canals and is one of the main districts for going out at night. Naviglio Grande is the busier of the two canals and is split into sides. If standing at the top of the canal, on the left side are the more competitive bars which offer aperitivo and on the right are more expensive restaurants where you have to order from a menu. The canal is pretty long so you have plenty of different places to try.
Last week I had the joy of attending the Andy Warhol exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Piazza del Duomo next to the cathedral which is a pretty big gallery that seems so far to always have about two or three ever changing exhibitions on. I've never really had the chance to easily visit exhibition before so I plan on really taking advantage of this. The Andy Warhol exhibition was fantastic and so informative showcasing such a variety and collection of his personal work as well as other people involved in his artistic career, it was incredibly interesting. Currently other exhibition on show are Rodin and Il Vottol Del '900, exhibitions that are to be installed in the near future are Pollock and Kandinsky. As it is only 9,50 euros to get in as a student under the age of 26 I'm going to make the statement that I will attend most of these exhibitions by the end of the year. It is better to visit during the morning is the week if possible as when queuing for Warhol on a Saturday it did take us about an hour to get in.
Also in Piazza del Duomo is a department store called 'Rinascente'. As a fashion student, design student or food lover this is somewhere that HAS to be visited. The department store is huge and sells designer goods on all levels. To me the best floors are the following;
BASEMENT - It is the home wear section with an staggering collection of quirky items, lighting and electronics as well as a heineken SUB bar and coffee shop, most the items are so expensive you could cry but you may be able to afford a pantone mug if you save up.
1st FLOOR - Womens accessories, oh-my-god it is heaven. A complete floor dedicated to designer handbags and scarves, imagine it.
5th/6th FLOOR - Womens clothing a shoes, you can actually touch Mary Katrantzou's creations along with a list of designers too long to write.
TOP FLOOR - the food hall, complete with supermarket. Yes. Up at the top there are plenty of different places to eat along with specialist foods like chocolate, olives, hams, teas etc. and a rooftop terrace bar to sit on in the sun and look directly at the cathedral. This picture is taking from the 1st floor women's accessories but unfortunately I'll have to go back again and take some more photos to share with you the wonders of the other floors.
Unfortunately the bad news about my time here is this, WE STILL DON'T HAVE THE INTERNET IN THE APARTMENT! As bills are extra on top of rent the apartment was not fitted with internet, of course in order to sign up for the internet you need an Italian bank account. To get this I waiting till the end of October when student services arrange an appointment for the bulk of erasmus students with the bank manager. This has now happened and I have signed up for the internet with the provider fastweb, they are an awful company! After the promise of having the internet fitted within a week we are still waiting after they haven't turned up three times and no one on the phone or in the shops want to help. As the Italians say 'bahww'. Hopefully it will be sorted next week but in the meantime it has made doing work for university incredibly difficult as the computer rooms at NABA are only open till 8pm and the campus is completely closed on weekends. Dare I say I miss the library?
In terms of classes it has been so busy again and already we're starting to prepare for the February exam period.
For textiles by the time of the February exams I will be the proud creator of 15 different textiles all presented with corresponding care labels and fabric compositions, isn't that exciting. I've decided to use the same theme as my fashion design work so that the collection and fabrics can work alongside and compliment each other but have tweaked a couple of parts of the colour palette to make it a bit more vibrant and exciting. Within these samples I have to use three different methods of my choosing such as knitting, weaving, printing of any type, flocking, needle felting etc. etc. so there is plenty of choice. Development is now starting and I am required to keep an experimental diary of what methods I'm using.
In knitting I have been set the task to create a box of any size that represents myself which inside showcases my knitting ability as best as possible and may contain other forms of construction e.g. clay work, woven fabric etc. So, as I am completely obsessed with what I wear and when not dressed well genuinely feel a little bit scared to leave the house I have decided that really all I am is what I wear hence using my very pretty armoire and it's contents as the inspiration for this project.
So far I've started by selecting the more textural parts of my wardrobe and taken photos to then try to imitate as best as possible by finding matching yarns and using the same stitches. I have made the bold decision to try my best to do this to scale which means I am going to measure everything!! EVERYTHING! Meaning my sketchbook will probably contain more numbers that anything else but non the less it should work out an awful lot better than 'winging it'. To construct the box given the curves and details I've decided laser cutting is probably my best bet and so this week I'll start work on the illustrator file, hoping I don't set anything on fire in production.
For fashion design our professor is making us draw. I can't draw. I'm really bad at drawing. I can admit this is helping though. The lesson is 9 till 5 in a single day in the same room so is pretty full on but pretty much works as us independently developing our collections and drawing skills and one by one having reviews with our tutor. Helen although incredible sarcastic is fantastic and already I've learnt so much about how to tackle the design process and I'm understanding more the absolute importance of function.
For pattern making I've finished the waistcoat and am now making a ladies blazer. Our professor has told us that to make a blazer is the most difficult pattern cutting and I really hope he is right as so far it is hard.
In marketing it's still very broad but still taught in a unique and interesting way, mostly our professor is setting us group tasks to use our marketing skill then explaining what we did via a presentation to the class. Usually I'm completely against things like this but it is working very well. Equally he is also showing us a lot of films and brands that utilise marketing in the best or worst possible way. The film he showed this week was the September issue. For anyone interested in fashion it is a documentary of British Vogue following their progress on the production of the September issue of 2007, their largest issue to date, and an absolute, complete and utter must watch.
After a little bit of browsing on YouTube I've found a copy with the full film, prepare to watch the real life Devil Wears Prada. Of course the book of Devil Wears Prada is in fact based on Anna Wintour and written by her ex-assistant so you shouldn't really be surprised but speaking for myself I couldn't believe how accurate it really is, happy viewing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCRJNXccclA
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