John Benjamin Formals

Have you Listened to this song.  It’s awesome.  I love his music.  Tell us what you think about it.

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Have you ever traveled for an extended period of time?  To multiple locations? It is truly a fun experience.  Through working with John Benjamin Designs we have tons of stories about the places we have been and the people we have met.

We are starting a series of blogs sharing our lives living out of a suit case.  The blogs will include picture of the places we travel, descriptions of the people we have met and the clothing you must bring with you when you travel to these places.

We will be following the life of our Head of Sales Ben Shaul. We will tell the tales of his experiences on the road.  He will be posting a minimum of 1 blog a week.  Check in each week to see where he has been and who he has met.  Should be great content follow our RSS feed.

I recently heard about an amazing philanthropic program called the Team in Training.  Team in training is a fundraising program through the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. The program helps individuals live a life long dream of running a Marathon or 100 mile bike ride and at the same time raise money for the LLS.

The individuals raise money independantly for a common goal of finishing this. Since 1988 they have raised over a billion dollars for the LLS.  Through these training programs not only are we becoming one step closer to finding a cure they are also promoting healthy living.

I heard about this through Meghan Collins.  One of my personal heros. She is training for a marathon in a couple of weeks and is very passionate about the program. 

The LLS has a special place in my heart because I have had a number of close friends as well as family members that have been affected by these awful medical conditions. 

If you are interested in helping Meghan and the LLS get closer to a cure you can send words of encouragement and/or donations through the link below.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  Together we can all live longer.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/nikesf10/mcollin4fw

Have you heard of Vanity Sizing?  There is an article in Esquire this month that discusses a sales tactic that stores and brands are using to sell their men’s pants.  I have always known about this and assumed it was common knowledge that each brand fits differently and also knew that brands that catered to the larger body shapes tended to pad in a couple of inches to their sizing.  It was surprising to me to see how prevalent it is across the industry.  Below is a list of stores with their sizing compared to the actual measurements of the pants. (Image from www.esquire.com type in the key word Vanity Sizing to read full article)

We do realize this article specifically refers to men’s clothing but this has been common practice throughout the industry.  In women’s clothing it isn’t as apparent because of how the sizing of the clothing is numbered.  Women’s clothing does not refer to the actual measurement of the waste where as men’s sizing does.  So it’s a bit easier for the manufacturers to hide the vanity sizing.  Think about it.  That’s why if you’re a size 6 at some stores you’re a size 8 in others. 

 I realize that if a pair of pants makes someone feel good by the smaller size creating the impression that they are smaller and more in shape, that most likely they will return and buy another pair. This fictional sizing combined with most Americans’ massive overeating might be what is contributing to America being referred to as the fattest country in the world. 

                Is this irresponsibility in the fashion industry or just smart business practice?  I think it’s a little bit of both.  People should know that they are getting bigger if they truly are, but if people are already getting larger do you think it’s good to make them feel bad if they have to buy new clothes all the time?  Will they continue to buy?  We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Karl Lagerfeld is being honored by the Couture Council of the Museum at FIT. The honoring will take place at next month’s Annual Benefit Luncheon.  This is not surprising they are honoring him.  Everyone in the fashion industry follows what he does.  Most fashion classes are taught from his books and drawings. So in some respects everyone in the industry has been influenced by him in some way.

Lagerfeld was born in Hamburg, Germany to a wealthy family in 1938.  In 1952 he went to Paris where he gained a passion for fashion.  He first worked in the industry for designer Pierre Balmain.  He then went on to design for Fendi and the House of Chanel.  He has continued to design for both houses for decades.   He has designed for a number of other designers over the years as well.  From dresses to furs he does it all.

Karl Lagerfeld at a Show.

He also runs 6 separate lines of his own.  Check out www.karllagerfeld.com to see everything he does.  It’s pretty amazing.  Couture and formalwear is not all he does.  His companies range from designing upscale denim and casual ready to wear clothing to perfumes.  This diversity makes him one of, if not the most powerful designer in the industry.   The trend reports are pretty much based off of what he is going to do.

As I said I am not surprised he is being honored. I would have thought they would have honored him earlier.

 While I was in school we learned a great deal looking at his designs and sketches.  In illustration class we watched a number of videos to teach how to illustrate properly for advertisements and matted presentations.  Learning from his designs has inspired me to concentrate on the dress industry and then expand outward from there.

In short because of his influence on the fashion industry he is at the top of the list of the people I want to meet.