Thrifting Through ZARA

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It’s one of the most recognized names in fast fashion. Zara. You can’t walk down the busy shopping areas in Manhattan without seeing the name proudly being flaunted on the paper bag by a fashion enthusiast or anyone who wants to give their look an upgrade. If you see someone with a Zara shopping bag gripped by their tight fingers, you know they’ve just bought something trendy. The problem I have with trends is that many people follow them at once and they have a short closet life. The problem I have with trending styles from Zara is that many people will own it or have seen it in the store. You might think you look ever so stylish in that new Zara topcoat (you probably do) without realizing many people might know where you got your topcoat from. The loss of uniqueness is irritating to me. Zara has a great reputation of making people look fashion forward, and bad reputation of making people look the identical. Where’s the astonishment that makes people stop you on the street to ask where you got your clothes from? True fashion is on the street but, not when everyone gets them from the same place.


I had my design professor tell me that he hates wearing the same thing as everyone else. I concur. He would buy nice in-season shirts from Banana Republic and leave them in his closet for three years and then wear them out. After three years of not seeing a popular item, it’s evident that those shirts would be seen as unique and trendsetting. I don’t have the self discipline to stash away any new peice of clothing I buy. I need to wear it immediately. At the very least, a special occasion. I do however, have the savviness to find passed-season clothing from online sellers (eBay, Poshmark, Mercari) in pristine condition, years later. That’s exactly what I did when I bought this white puff sleeve blouse with Swiss dots from the Mercari app. I bought it new with tags the listing said it was from Zara’s 2018 collection. Once I wore this top outside, everyone wanted to know where I got it from. My online thrifting for this one top, turned into a treasure hunt for more vintage Zara tops. Here are a few more I found.


Wearing clothes from old collections can give your wardrobe a fresh update. You can elevate your style with pieces that are old or wearing what is current. Your style is personal to you. It’s important to create looks that fit you, not the window mannequin. 

Kaye

I’m a fashion enthusiast that strives to create looks that fit my persona, effortlessly. Art exhibits, reading, the news and anything peaks my interest and strikes creativity, are all put into my blog to share with you.

Dolce Vita Paily Heels

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Photo by Kaye Liautaud

My style goals this passed Spring were light, airy, bold. The Dolce Vita Paily heels checked off my list. Making a bold fashion statement isn’t usually associated with the terms light and airy but, it’s hard to be subtle with chunky sandals that have two braided straps.

Photo by Kaye Liautaud

Braided sandals seem to be the trend for Spring/Summer ‘22 and while the silhouette is timeless, the chunky-braided detail is a look that I suspect will be in and out in the next few years like raffia. I’ll be keeping these in the back of my close for quite some time. I’m not here to tell anyone to follow trends. Where what makes you look and feel your best. Style is according you. The Paily heels remind me of the hot pink plastic heels I used to put on my Barbie in the 90’s. Total nostalgia in adult form.

Photo by Kaye Liautaud

Details matter. Period. Every piece of fashion has something special that catches our eyes. It could be the stitching of a seam or a neckline that sits perfectly. For me, it’s the texture. The heel features a raised, diamond-like pattern that sets these sandals apart from the countless other braided sandals I’ve seen for the season. Brown and tan are popular colors for this style. Lilac is a light and airy color that is seen on more delicate styles of shoes. These two elements combined, are the bold and playful style I needed for a fresh update to my spring wardrobe.

Photo by Kathleen Liautaud
Photo by Dwayne Parker
Photo by Dwayne Parker
Kaye

I’m a fashion enthusiast that strives to create looks that fit my persona, effortlessly. Art exhibits, reading, the news and anything peaks my interest and strikes creativity, are all put into my blog to share with you.

Museum of Ice Cream

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Melt into a world of fun and flavor.

Photo by: Kaye Liautaud

Welcome to the Museum of Ice Cream in downtown New York City. This pop up exhibit features installations that are multi-sensory and provoke imagination in a space inspired by flavors and deserts. Visitors get to experience MOIC through interactive installations while tasting various flavors of ice cream throughout the exhibit. Keep scrolling for more of the joy at Museum of Ice Cream.
Photo by Kaye Liautaud

Meet the men guiding the magic at MOIC. Ricardo Sanchez, a.k.a. Ricky Road, and Adam Troyer a.k.a. Red Velvet; employees of MOIC. Once you step into the Museum of Ice Cream your real name melts away and you are encouraged to choose an ice cream name for yourself. The MOIC employees prefer to be called by their ice cream names.
Photo by Kaye Liautaud

No one is exempt from having an ice cream flavor for a name at MOIC. Not even celebrities. Take a look at these flavors and see which names are familiar.
Photo by Kaye Liautaud

A dining hall with a table of deserts await guests at the MOIC in NYC. Don’t be fooled. The deserts are not edible. Only the trays of hazelnut, pistachio, and strawberry macarons are given for guests to eat.
Photo by Kaye Liautaud

The subway room at MOIC is a recreation of the NYC train cars with an automated announcer telling visitors the name of the next stop. This room also features windows with moving graphics of the skyline, galaxy, and realistic view of the NYC subway platforms.
“A lot of curiosity and kind of confusion-excitement.” -Ricky Road, MOIC employee.
Photo by Kathleen Liautaud

A room of hanging bananas split into two colors. Red Velvet told me that the banana room is where adults have the most fun.
“They’ll actually run through them and have fun. When you get an adult to be a kid again, that really satisfies the purpose of the room.” -Red Velvet, MOIC employee.

Photo by Kaye Liautaud

“Ice Cream is a smile.” -Red Velvet, MOIC employee.
Photo by Kaye Liautaud

A rainbow hallway lit up in primary colors.
Photo by Kathleen Liautaud

Giant sculptures of scoop handles scooping a ball of ice cream. The textures in the sculptures are realistic and well detailed. Visitors are given a scoop of stretchy ice cream in this room.
Photo by Kathleen Liautaud

This giant tube slide is three stories high and takes visitors for a fast spin. Ricky Road tells me this is his favorite room in the exhibit where adults don’t know what to expect. He said after pushing five grown women, who seemed skeptical down this slide, they were all screaming in crescendo.
“I think adults are more themselves when they go down the slide.” -Ricky Road, MOIC employee.
Photo by Kathleen Liautaud

The sprinkle pool is the final room in the exhibit. The pool is filled with rubber multi-colored sprinkles and a bright red slide. The beach balls are the cherry on top of the sprinkle pool experience. Be sure to take off your shoes before taking a dip in the sprinkles. There is a lifeguard on duty.
Kaye

I’m a fashion enthusiast that strives to create looks that fit my persona, effortlessly. Art exhibits, reading, the news and anything peaks my interest and strikes creativity, are all put into my blog to share with you.

Instaworthy Exhibit Designed For Hashtags

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Photo by Kaye Liautaud
A life size egg carton filled with giant styrofoam eggs.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram are notorious for photo sharing and using hashtags. When it comes to getting likes for photos by using hashtags, Instagram holds the torch. The photo sharing app has even earned its own verb. “Instagramable”. Meaning that a photo is worth posting on Instagram to get plenty of likes. Society has become so reliant on getting likes on their pictures for the sake of instant gratification that they are willing to pay for it. Not just by purchasing followers.

Photo by Kaye Liautaud
Ellis the Egg sleeping in her New York apartment and dreaming about success in the big city.

The Egg House is a pop up exhibit that opened in downtown NYC was meant to attract visitors with props for them to share photos and use the proper hashtags. The purpose of the hashtag is for app users to to become aware of the exhibit and purchase tickets to the exhibit.
Photo by Kaye Liautaud
Ellis the Egg in her reality. A tiny plastic egg on a doll sized bed inside of a hole in the wall.

Unlike most art exhibits, The Egg House didn’t have any valuable substance. It was a venue that was literally designed for guests to take pictures for social media. The entry fee was $20. It will cost you $20 to take tacky photos in front of plastic props to get more notifications on your phone. It’s ironic that millennials in particular will spend money to go out for the sake of being able to spend more time looking at their screens.

Photo by Kaye Liautaud
The hole in the wall that cost $20 to look at a plastic egg.

Photographer Adeos Yeboah told me he does not find any benefit in taking photos at meaningless exhibits that claim to be art. “I feel like that’s kind of sad. It’s not something that I would personally do but you can’t control what people want. It’s their phone.”

Photo by Kaye Liautaud
Ellis the Egg on screen. I giant egg rolling around on pavement.

The colorful props do create more content for social media pages but, the digital age has a reputation for making society more narsacisstic. The idea of getting dressed up to pose for social media photos is society’s new norm that has most app users craving that instant gratification through a double tap on a screen. Purpose over popularity. Guests are unlikely to question the purpose of why they are taking photos. They will use hashtags to gain popularity for their photos by counting the number of likes. The apps on our phone screen have control over society because most people fail to recognize the purpose behind a photograph. Most of these pictures are fabricated in order to portray a false image for popularity based on numbers.

Photo by Kaye Liautaud
Striped wall with furniture props for taking pictures.

Going to a cheesy “art” exhibit to take pictures for social media isn’t a crime. Charging an exorbitant amount for entry to these exhibits should be thought out more carefully before you buy tickets. Some of these exhibits can inspire people to get creative with their photo taking and editing skills. Before dropping your hard earned cash on these pop ups, make sure you are getting an experience worthwhile and not another cliche photoop to mark yourself “here” in a social media post.

Kaye

I’m a fashion enthusiast that strives to create looks that fit my persona, effortlessly. Art exhibits, reading, the news and anything peaks my interest and strikes creativity, are all put into my blog to share with you.

Color Factory

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An inside look at NYC’s colorful haven.

Photo by Kaye Liautaud
Entrance to Color Factory

Color Factory is a pop up exhibit in downtown NYC that takes visitors through rooms with different activities that are designed around color themes. Visitors get an experienc that is interactive and educational. Each room let’s you explore colors through sight, taste, sound, and touch. Keep scrolling through this photo gallery to explore more of my Color Factory experience.

Photo by Kaye Liautaud
A low ceiling of streamers in various shades of the color spectrum. Visitors gather under these streamers before entering the exhibit. They are also given a piece of mochi ice cream with flavors that have colors matching the color scheme of streamers. 
Photo by Kaye Liautaud
This colorful hallway has magnetic walls with pins attached. Guests can pick a round pin off the wall as a souvenir to keep. Guests are encouraged to choose a color that resonates with their mood (or any color they like) and wear it throughout their visit.
Photo by Kaye Liautaud
The color of the Macaron you choose, might not be the flavor you are hoping for. CHOOSE WISELY! The flavors are unknown until you take a bite.
Photo by Kaye Liautaud
Put the phone down. Sit at the station with your partner across from you. Put on the headphones provided and carefully listen to the instructions on what to draw in the circle. Exchange drawings with your partener. AWESOME! Once you’re done, please enjoy sour candy for your job well done!
Photo by Kaye Liautaud
K is for Khaki. Pull on the knobs to reveal the name of the color in accordance with it’s given letter. The color description is on the reverse side.
Photo by Kaye Liautaud
Take a spin on the giant color wheels. I promise, you WILL get dizzy.
Photo by Adeos Yeboah
The contrast between cool tone and warm tone colors. Red and blue are nearly opposite of each other on the color wheel. When opposites attract, take a dip inside an adult sized ball pit.
Photo by Kaye Liautaud
The ball pit is an interesting shade of aquatic blue. It appears to mimic the look of an actual pool. The room strangely smelt like chlorine water (but that could probably be my weird sense of smell). This made me feel like I was really at an indoor pool party.
Photo by Kaye Liautaud
Thank you for visiting Color Factory. Please exit through the colorful hallway. Don’t forget to enjoy complimentary ice cream and treats on the way out.
Photo by Kaye Liautaud
Complimentary souvenirs!
Photo by Kaye Liautaud
Ice cream after the ball pit.
Kaye

I’m a fashion enthusiast that strives to create looks that fit my persona, effortlessly. Art exhibits, reading, the news and anything peaks my interest and strikes creativity, are all put into my blog to share with you.