Tis the end!

Reflective Blog post:

Communication is a key tool in the world of business. If nothing were to be communicated no work would be done. It is interesting to look back at how communication in the world has come such a long way by means of boats, ships, trains, airplanes, mail, telephone, cellphone, email, Facebook, Twitter, and the list goes on.  When I had heard about this class I was a little afraid of taking this course because even though I had all the tools for this class and I was already on Facebok and Twitter I just thought technology and all this media commotion was overrated. You hear how Smartphone’s increase the hours people work these days, take away from family time and can cause serious legal issues in court. Aside from all that, I didn’t completely have a negative attitude towards technology, because I do understand how it is shapes our daily living and will continue to be present, and I don’t want to be left behind in the times become an old grandma by the time I’m thirty. After having thought that technology can only go so far and can only carry us to the future so far, I realized I was terribly mistaken as to thinking I knew how to work all my gadgets and login accounts and I thought my Smartphone and laptop only served a couple purposes. In all truth, I was wrong, this class instead of emphasizing the worst of social media has focused on the many different ways technology can be used  to better the world and to simplify some activities and to share our common wealth with others in the quickest and most efficient way yet! It gave new light on using my Smartphone especially, and using my social media accounts not only for socializing but for resources and reliable contacts for the future.  I loved reading this interesting fact about using Smartphone’s in a creative way, here is a video: Smartphone marketing I will say this video has changed my perspective drastically about technology in modern times.

This class has made me a bit of a social media nut! I already am on Facebook and I was on Twitter before coming into this class but didn’t really have a clue how to navigate around the site.  I’m glad I have learnt now because I am already following people that can potentially help me in the future and I already find out great articles about the textile industry from a few followers.  Twitter is fairly simple to use and it is reliable for the latest news.  Though it may have the fastest news as I have learnt you do have to look up the sources of the articles and be academically aware that flaws do exist in the world of news, but I think after taking this course I can be sure to know what kind of an article is academically peer reviewed and what may just be a simple article out of a magazine or newspaper.  I know now how to read each article differently depending on whether it is an academic article or just an informative article.  

As for the blog, I think the blog was a great touch to the class because it promoted communication. It was an opportunity to show who you are as a person and let others see it in a professional manner.  It gave us a sense of common ground to go and comment and reflect on what others had to say about assignments. No one’s blog remotely looks the same because it is our own personal blog to develop and for it to grow in the future. I am glad I learnt all the tricks of starting a blog and how to write one because I now have the confidence to make a blog on my own and actually advertise it as mine via social media and not be afraid to voice my opinion. This is a fellow students blog which I’m glad to have met because she is graduating this year in the same program as me and she could be future contact for me after I’m done my degree and wanting to kick start my career in the fashion industry.

 Along with creating the blog, the linkedin, the Facebook page, I see now how your resume and CV can be beneficial for you in the world of media.  With all the competition out there keeping your resume and Cv up to date is date online is important for maintaining your social image of yourself.




Photo Credits: Ziyah Karmali 

Photo of my friend Sarah Dubé and I at WCFW. Photo taken April 4th 2012.

I am glad I have met a great friend in ALES 204 who I can continue to speak french with on main campus and is the same faculty as me! I invite you all to follow me on tumbrl here: coeurdebijoux where I plan on making this blog my main Fashion blog in the near future!

Links to my comments:
Alana Soderberg
Tess Beaton
Erin Hrycan
Sarah Dubé
Jasveer Brar

Thanks for a great class:)

Free blog post!

I have decided to do my free blog post about natural dyes in the textile industry.

Natural dyes are everywhere; derived from mostly parts of plants and some bugs, they are the earliest known dyes of time and are becoming a new hype. They are becoming more popular and a lot more talked about when it comes down to being eco-friendly.  I found this article on a Facebook page called “My Sustainable Fashion” of which I follow and found it to be quite intriguing and really neat. You can find the article here: Natural Dye Article

Photo Credits: Laura Scott 

Easter tulips, could potentially be dye?-Photo of Easter tulips. Taken on April 13th 2012.

I found that this article gives new light on making your own creations and giving our own personal touches on things we own.  The article insinuates that anyone could take a flower or any sort of leaves from their garden and use it as a dye. You can take any plain old shirt and spice it up with a little heating of the plants in water and letting the fabric sit in it for an hour and violà you could have a brand new shirt in no time.  Something that may just be a hobby could become something much more complex.

When people think of natural dyes many think of natural dyes from the Victorian era and think that they only produce bland and pale colours but in all truthiness a lot of natural dyes produce vibrant colours, those who wore the vibrant colours in Victorian era and in eras past were mainly royalty because the process of collecting required very extensive labour.  I remember my textile professor showing my textile class a very ancient piece of fabric from Egypt with deep purple dyed stripes on it( which represented a type of royalty) , but the dye from the purple stripes was tested and found to be probably dyed  from a special plant only known to royalty at the time.  I think it must be fun to dig around in ancient land and find clothing and articles and have them tested to know who wore them in ancient eras.

After reading, some other classmates free blog post I see that one student Julianna Lackowicz chose to write about the Kony 2012 Project. An extensively talked about project that started hitting the media scene beginning of March 2012, and has become widely known now thanks to social media posting mass messages and videos of the hype. I like how even with all it's attention sometimes only people here about these issues through word of mouth or in class which is a great setting for learning news! I think the only sad part of these big hype issues is that once it happens it has it's so called infamous "fifteen minutes of fame" then loses interest fast, though social media can create a pathway for these issues to further discussed, such ass through Twitter's # and maybe even through event pages on FB.