Blog Post

Embracing NYC: Diaries of a Fashion Student

Sarah Collister • June 26, 2023

Dear reader, welcome to New York! I'm Sarah, and I'm one of the luckiest fashion students in the world, for I get to take a 10 day course in New York City. I'm so happy you are joining me on this trip of a lifetime - enjoy!

Day One

We flew a red eye into the city, I departed from Edmonton, meeting friends in Toronto for our connecting flight. We were nodding off in the airport and on the plane from staying awake for over thirty hours. Our outfits were chosen out of comfort, a plethora of layers of knitwear, saving the style for when we got to the city. There was a magical moment where the five of our grumpy attitudes lifted as the plane soared around Manhattan, with views of downtown, central park, the Statue of Liberty, and the famous bridges, we were all seeing for the first time. I cued up my Taylor Swift playlist and lived out the “Welcome to New York” daydream. 


My first impression of the city was purely busy, every person I saw was on a mission, there were men in suits talking on the phone as they sped walked, movers in their work overalls carrying large furniture in and out of these skinny buildings, tourists in their group t-shirts marching to their next destination. 


There were the five of us completely drained from our travel day, just denied early access to the rooms with our desperately needed beds. We dropped our bags and headed on the search for food to fuel us for the next few hours.

After gathering up some goods from Whole Foods, we ventured across the street to the beautiful Bryant Park for our first moment of peace. This is where I made my first sketch of the trip, I tried to capture the skyline and the view. The peaceful sound of the water in the fountain made the park an inviting sanctuary from the craziness of the city already. The park was packed with professionally dressed people, most only staying for 15 minutes, you could tell that this was a place for many to take a break from the other New York stresses, a moment of just them and the park, the city in the background, the tensions in the background.

Day Two


The previous evening I crashed asleep on the white cotton sheets of the hotel's bed. My roommate and I set the alarm for 7:30 am, only she was up much earlier from excitement and turned the alarm off so I could sleep more. The extra 30 minutes quickly turned into over an hour as I was still out cold. I woke up in a panic just shy of 9:00 and quickly started to get ready. I’d barely gotten dressed when there was a banging at the door “Sarah we were supposed to be in the lobby at 9:15 it's 9:20!” I am now realizing what people say when they speak about a "New York Minute" because that’s all I took before running down to the lobby.


I got a few outfit compliments from my classmates even though I felt so scattered and slightly embarrassed from my unprepared state. “I woke up 20 minutes ago,” I said which shocked some. How can you feel so unprepared for the day, but appear perfectly ready for the tasks at hand just from your outfit? It made me wonder as I walked through the city how many of the people in their work formal dress code were madly disorganized on the inside masking it with their business suits and coffee. I may not have had any makeup or hair done, but my pre-planned outfit carried out my impression throughout the day.

We met our guide for the week Jon Harari, who is the Co-Founder and CEO of WindowsWear. Already I could tell the next week would be full of fun fashion-related insights. We had an industry professional leading us after all.


 In the sketchbook today I highlighted some of my favorite eye-catching pieces at each location. ​​​​​​​ 


We started at M&S Scmalberg and Brianna and I were almost screaming with the knowledge of some of their projects. Working on Met Gala looks and films such as Sex in the City or Bridgerton! The guide was just playing around with some scrap petals and created a beautiful flower. Now I have a wondrous purpose for my scrap fabric collection and an excuse to “just play”. 


At the New York Embroidery Studio, I was pleasantly surprised to see a plethora of young designers working on different projects. The environment was very upbeat and fun. The different machines they had were fascinating and explained some of the mystery of how a brand can mass produce something so beautifully embroidered. 

By the time we reached Mood, I had so many ideas and points of inspiration. My favourite fabric was a 3D floral embroidered fabric mesh as drawn here. I think a combination of the activities today lead to that choice, it felt as though those two worlds of embroidery and flower-making combined into that fabric. I would have bought a yard if it wasn’t the equivalent of my round-trip flight to Vancouver from Edmonton. I left the day feeling inspired, there are so many possibilities within the world of fabric and thread, and so many instances where this work is celebrated.


Dinner this evening was our first together and was an opportunity to sit and chat with some of the other classmates sharing different perspectives of little things that struck an interest in one another. Reliving the day through each other’s creative eyes was just as fun as the day itself. 

Day Three


Today was a shopaholics trip of a lifetime visiting Macy’s the “biggest store in the world” for a tour from Todd. Macy’s is a host to many household products as much as it is to other experiences in Americans' lives. Macy’s fireworks and Thanksgiving parades are things we as Canadians heard about which shows these events' widespread impacts. The movies Christmas on 34 Street, having Santa Claus in Store, or Big with the giant piano. Heidi and I got the opportunity to play the "Big" piano at the FAO Schwartz toy store and create a memorable moment for our group and other store goers.

We visited iconic locations like Saks (literally on fifth avenue!) and the new Tiffany flagship store holding gems such as the Tiffany Diamond, the Medusa and the breakfast at Tiffany’s dress worn by Audrey Hepburn. There were records of scripts and plans of the movie in the store. There were hundreds of employees across the board in each location whose lives are focused on the retail experience for us.


We passed by other famous locations along the way the St. Patrick’s Cathedral the Rockefeller Plaza and the Grand Central Station. SO MANY PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. There were tourist groups similar to ours whispering in the walls of the station or stopping to post group photos at each monument. The streets were filled with pedicab drivers blasting popular New York songs.


It was quite like a day from a movie in New York.

Day Four


Today was a much more technical design day starting at Lectra. I found the 3D technology of drafting patterns with the translation to the different machines that could print patterns directly onto the material fascinating. One of my favourite courses in university so far was drafting. This made me excited to start practicing CAD and more drafting projects. I could see a future job for me in drafting as a result of this. 


I noticed the atmospherics in Lectra to be quite inviting and exciting- the rooftop view being the highlight. One of the employees mentioned she transits from Queens but the work environment is worth it. I think that’s something really important to consider in all workplaces, from the interiors of the stores we saw yesterday to the Diane Von Furstenberg store we closed today with visiting, beautiful spaces foster better service and design.

Just over a year ago, I applied to Fashion Design schools, my sights were set on the Wilson School of Design for costs and convenience, when I was much younger I did have dreams of attending the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) or Parsons in New York. It was a fun full circle moment to visit the FIT museum and see their students' work. I rest with ease knowing that I could do the same work they do in Vancouver and that the Wilson School of Design still brought me to the fashion capital of New York.

We also today had the opportunity to meet Santo Loquasto and John Kristiansen a costume designer and the head of a costume shop. We had long conversations with both of them, hearing more about the different design challenges that come along with the theatre. Work is scattered and dependent upon different shows. The schedule isn’t as black and white, some projects have a very short strict deadline, and sometimes errors are made that cause a delay.


The schedule in which they worked was told to be long and meticulous which isn’t appealing to me despite my love for working on theatrical costumes in the past. While the work was beautiful and inspiring, most of the job isn’t glamorous and I realized I wouldn’t necessarily want that lifestyle for my everyday experience. 

Today was an eye-opening day for me in regards to what direction I’d like to take as a career, I’m just happy to close some doors as I am to open some new ones. It’s better to learn earlier on than later what paths I’m gravitating towards, but who knows I might change my mind and become a famous costume designer anyways. 


(I also dragged the group to go to Taylor Swift's old house while we were in the West Village today - I was super excited about that)

Day Five

We ventured out of Manhattan today for a natural dyeing workshop with Cara Piazza which was sosososo fun! Her energy was amazing and her story was also incredible. She created a job for herself out of what she was passionate about. She embraced us and welcomed our class like we were already friends and I’d have to credit her personality for making the class as amazing as it was. I used dried flowers on my sheet of silk and created a pattern uniquely my own. This was my first experience with natural dyeing and I’m excited to do more!

We stopped by a few vintage stores in Brooklyn where I bought my first souvenirs for myself, two silk camisoles, and two pairs of pearl earrings. I loved seeing local vendors' collections and the community they had built for us to shop in. Between the group, we all came out with so many different items each reflecting our style. 


To get back to Manhattan we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. I was getting quite tired from all the adventures of the week and almost chose to take the subway back instead. I’m so glad I decided to walk across. The views of the city were incredible. My dad is a Civil Engineer and loves a good bridge - I took a ton of pictures to show him! The walk was about 30 minutes, a walk that could easily be part of someone’s everyday commute.

Day Six


Sunday was our Free Day and boy did I need it. I slept for like 10 hours; my brain was exhausted from trying to retain every amazing sight or detail shared with me over the past few days.


I went with Heidi to visit the MOMA just around our hotel we saw plenty of great works. I was excited to see a few paintings by Piet Mondrian as the first shirt I’d ever made I painted a pattern similar to his design down the front. 


We met up with some others down in SOHO and got to explore some of the vintage scenes. I love trying on fun clothes, I sketched a dress that I tried that I never got a good picture of me in but was super fun and fluffy. I did not purchase it because as a designer I’d want to change a few details and I’m convinced I could make it myself. 

Day Seven


Monday was the most touristy day of all of them. We visited the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island and Elis Island. As mentioned in Jon's introduction, the fashion industry in New York rooted in the fur trade and was one of the main reasons for immigrants to move and work in the USA. On their way into New York, the boats stopped at Eli’s island and they would pass the Statue of Liberty on their way in. Today we were the foreigners who journeyed to New York for the Fashion industry and we got to sail by the statue and head to the historical islands. Lady Liberty was sculpted out of copper in a fashionable gown and crown known across the world. It was the statue that welcomed us into New York and welcomed so many others there too. 


The day ended in the financial district visiting Wall Street, the oculus, and paying respects at the 9/11 memorial. 

Day Eight

Looking back on all the days, this Tuesday was my absolute favourite resulting in filling seven sketchbook pages!


In the morning we took a beautiful walk through Central Park on the way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The sections of the park have different meanings and purposes which I found interesting. Depending on the type of person you are or your needs for that day you might end up in a different area of the park. Kind of like shopping at your favourite store, you can stop at your favourite part of the park. I loved the John Lennon Strawberry fields that had a beautiful tile mosaic reading “Imagine”. There was a person playing guitar on one of the benches and was overall a very peaceful area. 

At the Met, we had a short guided tour of some famous works before we got to explore ourselves. I spent the most time in the Karl Lagerfeld exhibition featuring years of his work. Similar sketches that were featured in a display at Macy’s were supporting each outfit displayed on manikins. I gravitated more towards his romantic pieces specifically those with added embroidery or dimensionality to them. After seeing the labour in embroidery and flower-making studios at the beginning of the trip, I had a new appreciation for each piece and the hours that would have gone into each of them. 

My favourite piece of art we were shown otherwise was the portrait of “Madame X” I love that a clothing detail such as the strap was originally painted off the shoulder, but such a scandal required the repainting of it back up. The plunge neckline was already so provocative for its time that the painting was quite controversial. I love a good piece of drama and I also love the shape of the dress. I have intentions of making a replica one day soon!


After The Met, we journeyed to the Ralph Lauren mansion which was a whole new shopping experience where the store felt like an enlarged home closet. I plopped down on an inviting white couch and admired the space along with the clothing. I decided that’s how I wanted my house to look like (clothing everywhere and all) 

The cherry on top for the day was our group trip to watch Moulin Rouge on Broadway. The theatre magic was prominent throughout the production. The costumes were impeccable. The lights and the set enhanced the sheen of the different materials. Satins aka “the Diamond” was always emphasized in each scene. Other technical theatre pieces like lighting, and set design moved with the scene. And the orchestra played beautifully throughout the night. The initial research I had done beforehand about productions made me wonder how many people backstage were working too. I gave a standing ovation for the actors and everyone else out of sight involved. 

Day Nine

Before I knew it the last day in New York was upon us. The majority of the day was spent in our WeWork space.  We got to hear from more industry professionals on how they “made it” in New York!


Firstly Raul Tovar, also from WindowsWear, Erin Mcsherry, a stylist, and Hilla Gershon who’s worked digitally with Saks and Amazon Fashion. All three speakers solidified the reoccurring theme I felt throughout this trip. The fashion industry is so very little about the actual clothing and so much more about the people working and the end market in mind. I took plenty of notes about the advice they had for us. Across the board, they each emphasized the importance of continuing to experiment and learn and to foster connections with others as you go.

Every person we met on the trip we had created a connection with and connections of Jon’s are how we were able to create the day we had today. You definitely have to be a people person to thrive in the fashion industry. There’s real value in being able to bounce off thoughts and ideas with like-minded people.


The part of me choosing to go to Wilson School of Design was to connect with other designers from all areas and collaborate on different projects. The video below encapsulates my biggest takeaway from this trip: how deeply human the fashion industry is.

We had a beautiful last dinner as a group that evening in Bryant Park. A coincidental full-circle moment from my first day.


It just so happened that that evening would be one of two nights all year that the sun would line up perfectly setting between the buildings creating the "ManhattanHenge" It was a beautiful moment that only lasted for a few minutes. In the time the sun slipped away, I said my goodbyes to the group and goodbye to New York.


For now, at least...

Thank you for joining my adventure!

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