Inked

"You will have it the rest of your life." says the various voices of friends and family when I mentioned that I wanted to add some color to my skin. Tattoos seem to have a bad reputation, but their reputation does not seem to have an impact on many young people.

To some it is a way to memorialize a lost loved one, or to have a friendly reminder permenately on you to remind you of your morals and not to stray. Other just think it would be awsome of have a tattoo. With more and more people throughout the years getting 'inked', many professions and jobs are allowing the hire of people who have visible tattoos. But as for the Hamilton County police station, thier sheriff is not alright with inked officers. Just recently, the police officers had short sleeve uniform shirts added to thier dress code for those hot summer days. Officers who direct traffic and work outside most of the time, are allowed to wear short sleeve shirts to help make the hot summer sun more bearable and keep them from gettin to hot. Sheriff of the Hamilton County Simon Leis stated that he wanted officers that have visible tattoos to wear long sleeve shirts when they are working. "gennerally tattoos are associated with motocylce clubs, that's not the image of law enforcement." Sheriff Leis tells the Cincinnati Enquirer. This dress code change is not sitting so well with the Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council. The council believe that this dress code change for tattooed officers can have an affect on thier health when it comes to working outside in the summer sun. The uniforms are a dark color and for those who are know fmailiar with thier colors, dark colors attact/ absorb sunlight more than lighter colors (want proof, wear a black outside in 90 degree weather). The 37 officers that have visible tattoos will have to don these long sleeve shirts when working outisde and this new demand of long sleeve shirts will cost over $4,000.

Tattoos are showing up more on the youth than ever before, which leave people questioning if people with tattoos will be able to hold a professional desk job.  For now it seems that the best way to be taken seriously is to cover up.

Margo Hutchinson

JOUR215 Newswriting & Reporting

May 21 2008

THRIFT

1-1-1

 

Cincinnati, Get Thrifty!

By: Margo Hutchinson

 

            Rising Gas prices and food prices are taking a toll on American spending.   For the Americans with a budget that want to maintain a style and be fashionable, they are looking outside the mall for unique finds that are not so costly.

             Thrift stores and other resale stores were once just for the people who could not afford the new clothes from department stores.   Now resale stores are becoming a past time for consumers and many of these consumers spend their weekend going to all the resale stores to find some precious treasures.  Cincinnati mom Jennifer Mayhall enjoys these adventures to thrift stores to find new home décor, toys for her sons, and also to give old antiques new life.  Also the experience of finding vintage clothes is something she also enjoys to share with her nieces, which she introduced them to thrift shopping just two years ago.

            With the consumer getting ready for summer, where can the average shopper go to get unique finds that are not attached to expensive price tags?   In the local Cincinnati area, many thrift stores, resale stores, and flea markets are becoming the place for consumers to find a one of a kind garments or accessories. There are different types of stores that sell old, already been worn clothes.  Big stores such as Good Will and the Salvation Army are large stores that people donate clothes, toys, shoes, and other objects.  Other places such as Plato’s Closet are big chain stores that inspect the clothes that people bring in to sell and in exchange for the gently worn clothes they give the customer cash. But stores such as Plato’s Closet do not take just any clothes. Plato’s Closet puts in special lighting, “We have a certain type of lighting lets us see the clothes better to find if there are any stains and flaws to the garment that you can’t notice in regular store lighting.” says one of the employees of Plato’s Closet.  Not only are the clothes inspected, but also they must be something that is in style and someone wants to wear.  The other type of resale store is consignment shops, such as Snooty Fox have people cosign to bring in garments and get %50 of what is sold of what the cosigner brought in.

            The resale store I visited on Tuesday was Sequels, which is a consignment and boutique shop located on Beechmont Ave.  Owner Penni Yannessa and her family own the retail store and she was a fashion design major.  Not only does she own the store, but also she helps customers with garments and helps the customer find the perfect outfit.  There are over hundreds of cosigners for Penni Yannessa’s store who bring in their old clothes and she looks through all of the clothes that are brought in and determines whether the clothes have potential to be bought by customers.

                        I did a little browsing within the store Sequels and I came out with some awesome ‘treasures’.  I got a shirt with shoes on it for $4 and a hat for $5.  I also found a Christian Dior vintage lingerie top for only $10.99.  Though it seems that the younger generation is not getting into the resale stores such as Sequels, the stores are small, relaxing, and are less hectic compared to the malls on a Friday night.  And for a country that strives to be unique, thrift stores give those fashionista’s that chance to buy a great outfit and still have money to till up their gas tanks.

Anatomy of a Hipster 101

" I forget what they call them, but she wears vintage band shirts like the Scorpions." A friend of mine ponders as he gets his hair cut by Lucky, a barber in Mariemont.
"You mean a 'hipster'?" questions Lucky
"That's it!", exclaims my friend and he laughs.



I guess in society we must be labled as something, even if we do not like it. So if i have a group in this label kingdom, I would be apart of the 'hipsterous radicous' family. ( I made that up) I guess I became more in tune with my so called 'hipster' when I lived in Chicago.
For those who wonder what a hipster is, pretty much related to the 'emo' family without the dark broken heart, love starved gene. 'Hipsters' can be found in any place that sells coffee and in thrift stores trying to find a one of a kind blazer and sweater vest. A 'hipster' wears there scares in a form of a noose and it goes well with that thrift store blazer they found. A 'hipster' is often smart and dabble in the arts and a is hard core liberal in every way.

Of course there are some different traits that I have apart for the 'perfect' 'hipster' such as the love for jazz and books with big words (I just wear fake glasses as a subsitute for the lack of wit). But I do maintain the other qualities that define or I should say label me as a 'hipster'. One is that i listen to funky music and underground bands that do not play on the radio such as Death from Above 1979, Bloc Party, and of crouse the poster boys of 'hipster' Ben Gibbard and his band Death Cab for Cutie. I do have a big love for coffee shops and coffee along with wandering about thirft shops to find some rad sweaters from the 80s.

I thought it would be fun to talk about this because I read a book last year called "Everybody Hurts: The Essential Guide to the Emo Culture". It was a funny, intesting look into who one can identify a emo and how to be one yourself from the movies, to your MySpace page. It was a fun book to read because it gives an example on how our society uses labels and how no matter what we do, and no matter how many 'Don't Label Me' shirts Hot Topic sells, we will always have labels. I hope that this is not confusing for a blog report, but I think labels are funny and interesting on how they develop. Labels are made by people who are outside that world, for example, punks did not decide to call themsevles punks, but someone described them in that word, and it just stuck.

It shows that there are groups of people who love similar things, and it is nice to know others who love Donnie Darko as much as you do. So labels are our way to idenify peole in the world, they are not the best way to label, but it is a part of our social development as humans that we must accept that it will always be there. I am called a 'hipster' but it does not bother me because I am similar to those people who like the same things I do, but I am aware of who I am and what I like and isn't that all that matters? So call me a 'hipster' I will wear my noose-tied scarf proudly and insult you for you taste in music. (sometimes)

A Man Named Marc

Hi, my name is Margo Renee Hutchinson and I love Marc Jacobs.   When one gets to know me they would find out that if I had to chose a role model for me in the fashion world, I say before one can finish the question; Marc Jacobs!  

So when I read that there was a documentary done on the designer I immediately tried to track it down through the internet.  The documentary was first featured on french TV and is now being sold on DVD.  The problem is that it was not easy to find, it was only being sold on the internet.  Luckily, Barnes & Nobles was able to order it to their store for me to pick up, and within 3 days and $30 bucks later it was in my hands.  As soon as I made it home after work, I settled down in bed, laptop in lap and got to see the work before the runway.  

Marc Jacobs I think loosened the corset of fashion.  He gave the elegance a rebellion and he loves to idea of making things look worn and old just like I do.  He is the only fashion designer that plays The Dead Kennedys "California Uber Allias" as his model walk down the runway and at another show have Sonic Youth preform as models paraded around them.  He not only creates his for label, but he works as creative director for Louis Vuitton.  He is the Chanel of out time and he loves what he does and with all the sucess his has had, his ego has not gotten to big.  

"If I continue to do what I love then I am sucessful" he says to an artist in Tokyo as they sit and talk about their views on life are thier work.  To see one man work to two labels is amazing because it seems that he is so in tune to what he is doing and never gets to overwhelmed.  He also realies on others opinions such as his assitant Joeseph who helps bring his creations to life.  The enviorment does not seem cold and like a sweat shop.  It is all done by hands in both of the lines he works for and you get to see Marc himself on his knees pinning fabric and pressing fabirc (vocab lesson: Pressing in the fashion world and sewing world means ironing the fabric. )

The director behind this documentary is frenchman Loic Prigent gives the viewer a fun and funny view of Marcs work and how different the Marc Jacobs label it from Louis Vuitton.  In Marc's own label, it is more laid back and a smaller enviorment where people are close and mark can be seen wearing cargos and a Fleetwood Mac shirt to a zip-up that says 'look better naked'.  As Marc's label is in New York, Louis Vuitton is in France and the enviorment is more protected and strict where mark i dress a bit more formal.  

Not only does it show the fun creation of Marc's clothing, but it also shows the more extreme side when outfits do not work out and that within the last day or two before the show.  No one is sleeping and everything is so hectic that even as i watched them race the clock and make sure to get a jacket done only moments before the show, I could feel the aydrenaline rush and wised I was there and under that type of pressure.  Marc has become such a big deal in the fashion world and it is obvious why.  He work is somewhat rebellious compared to the other works done by designers.   

His work is inspired by other artist such as Steven Sprouse who collaborated with Marc on a graffiti LV bag and also Takashi Morakami on a bag with the colorful LV logo.  The best thing to see in the documentary is an idea to take all the LV bags from the past and put them together and make one bag called the 'cubist' bag.  To watch the back go from a bunch of material on a paper to a real bag is so amazing and the hard work it took to make a bag from various materials (they broke some of thier sewing machines to make the bag)

Marc Jacobs is a pure joy to watch work and to see his mind work and get to know what a life is like for a fashion designer.  

Margo Hutchinson

JOUR 215 Newswriting & Reporting

May 5 2008

CLOTHES

 

Cincinnati locals sell Eco friendly fashion

By: Margo Hutchinson

 

            The University of Cincinnati started off the month of May with the celebration and awareness of our environment.  And from what I have found out, is that it is indeed greener on vine st.

Over the weekend of May 2-4, the University of Cincinnati had Worldfest, which was an event that was developed to inform students about the many ways they can become more aware of our environment and what they can do to keep our world green. 

            In the Tanngeum University Center, where the event was held, there was a station where students could relax on Amish made couches and chairs and stools and a table made of old bicycle wheels.  Not only is it relaxing place to get some free coffee and mingle with other students, but one can also do some shopping.  A boutique called ‘Park and Vine’ was at the university event to show off come organic goods for the body.  The store is owned by Dan Corman and he looks for local and organic goods to sell and his finds are quite amazing.  “Our goal is to get as many reasonable local materials as we can.’ explains John an employee at ‘Park and Vine’.  Most of the clothing that the store tires to sell is made from local retailers and all is organic and environmentally safe.

             With the price of oil rising the store wants to find local clothing brands which will save on the cost of shipping to the store without the high price of shipping.  Thought they do sell some out of state and country goods, they still support the evnviormentally safe cause that Mr. Corman wants to promote.

Margo Hutchinson

ORGANIC

-2-2-2

 

The clothes that were presented by ‘Park and Vine’ were made from materials such as bamboo, organic cotton, or corn fiber.  Also the reuse of billboard paper to made tote and messenger bags made by a brand called Actif, which is not a local brand.  They also sold shirts that were printed with strong messages of change in our environment.  Shirts that are made by American Apparel, which is a brand that uses, organic cotton to make their shirts. 

            The clothing though mostly local is not cheap because the use of raw materials is not cheap as using chemicals and un-organic materials.  Many of the clothes and bags featured are 50 $ and some ranging near 100$.  But the bags by Actif are very durable and can last a long time. Also featured totes to encourage more people to reduce their use of plastic bags, which will not put a huge dent in your wallet.

            Some of the brands featured were Pursuit of Harmony, Suutron, Sam Underneath, and Of the earth. The store 1109 intersection on vine and parkway.   

Remember My Forgotten Man?

"Remember my forgotten man? You put a rifle in his hand.

You sent him on his way, you shouted "hip hooray!", but look at him today....."- Joan Blondell, Gold Diggers of 1933.  

The song was set in a time when life was poor and soldiers were just faces, is it still true for the men and women who give up their time ans lives in the 21st century?  

As i watched the movie Gold Diggers of 1933, with all of its comedy and romance, it was the finale of the movie that grabbed my attention so much that I watched it multiple times;

The character played by Joan Blondell walks the streets in a pencil skirt torn to pieces at the end and gives her lit cigarette to the poor man who scoured the ground for a already lit one that a man just tossed over his shoulder.  The finale goes on as extravagant and strong as any movie musical done by Busby Berkeley.  This scene ran through my head over and over and my mind would repeat; 'remember my forgotten man?'

My brother is an army soldier of the 101st airborne and is currently stationed over seas, and he with many others, are the forgotten men.  Maybe not to the wives and mothers who lie in their beds wide awake in the morning, hoping to hear their phone ring or the husband and fathers who proudly show off their child and talk highly of their dedication.  It is the higher power that I believe have truly forgotten these men and women who would rather sit by a bon fire with their near and dear friends and family rather than in a desert that is dry and vacant.  It seems that the men and women who are dedicated to fighting are the ones who get the bad deal and it does not sit well for many, especially for someone who had walked along side a soldier.  

On YouTube, a father of a soldier posted the conditions of North Carolina's Fort Bragg.  Pictures that makes a fraternity look like a 5-start hotel.  The father expressed his anger that the conditions and was quoted by CNN, " This is embarrassing ,  it;s disgusting, and it makes me mad as hell."  After the publicity of the conditions on YouTube, the fort is now receiving the attention needed to improve the living conditions of army troops.  This is only one of the fort, but what about the others?  For Ed Frawley, he was not pleased with the lack of comfort and lack of hygiene that is son had to come back to after being stationed in Afghanistan for over a year.  

100 year Dame

The 2008 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Cirticism was Boston Globes' Mark Fennery who is being reconized for his reviews and praises of the arts and film.  

The articles that were listed of his on the Pulitzer Prize were all interesting from his talk of the DVD box set of the legendary films by Stanley Kubrick and the photographer Leibovitz, but the one article that stood out was the article on film legend Barbara Stanwyck.  On July 16th 2007 would of been Miss. Stanwyck's 100th birthday.  

What appeals to me about this article at first is that I myself have a love for the movies that were created before even my mother was born.  There is something so appealing about these old moives from the 1930s and 40s that keeps my televsion on Tuner Classic Movies.  It is a love for these old moives and legendary actors I developed from my father.  

I have to be honest, I have not seen many films with Barbara Stanwyck, but from the tribute to her by Jennifer Jason Leigh and the article by Mark Feeney, she was a talented dame.  She played women that were somewhat the same, but the type of women that did not need to sex appeal to get men to fall to their knees.  She was a smart woman as well as beautiful.  She was Ruthie Stevens from Brooklyn before she became Barbara Stanwyck.  She was the type of woman that died in the world of Hollywood moives. 

That is another reason this article attracted me.  These screen legends are forgotten in my generation that praise more on the ones that are famous but not talented.  That when I tell people that one of my favorite screen legends is Katharine Hepburn they respond, "Oh, yeah she is in Breakfast at Tiffanys!" (no offense so Audrey Hepburn I adore her also!)  That women who did not need to be half naked to get a man to fell in love with them.  They did it with thier eyes and walk.  These actresses and actors just brought something to the screen and there personal lives never interferred.  

Its something i cannot explain about these old moives that have kept me from the theaters for such a long time.  Its the mystery i think that i am so attracted to.  That when you watch these moives, you see a character and you are can easily be dragged into the moive from start to finish.  To read Mr. Feeney's article on Miss. Stanwyck makes me happy to know that these legends are not totally forgotten.