London, India...

So for the last year I've bee milling over questions of what God's will for my life is, and how fashion design can be incorporated, and how I can justify spending thousands of dollars to move to London to go to fashion school when there are starving children in India and Africa that need my love and attention.

Did you know that there are 1.6 billion people in India. 24 million of those people live in Mumbai (that's twice as many people than London). 300,000 of them are street children, that by the age of 7-9 are addicted to drugs and by 14-15 their lives are so screwed up that they are pretty much over. I learned all this at church on Sunday when a man Hillsong sponsors in India spoke. It really hit me hard as he told stories about some of the people they had helped get off the streets. I realized that all those people that I walk by everyday begging have a story...a reason why they are there on the street. In India you are usually born into poverty and can't get out, but in London they can get out. So I've decided to help them. This was all revealed to me as I was walking home from dinner one day with my friends and then the next day when I was church and it all kind of came together in my mind. It actually started about a week ago when I was walking to the tube by Marks and Spenser's. There was this cute little old man sitting on the ground outside the store. I really wanted to just go sit next to him and talk and find out his story, but I was running late as usually and had to make sure I caught my train so I just kept walking. He was on my mind on and off all week, then Saturday night on my way home from having pizza with friends I ran into a girl about 14. She came up to me begging for money for food. I was so shocked b/c I was talking and not paying attention and I didn't see her approach, that I got all weird inside and flustered and said sorry no I didn't (all I had were cards on me b/c I'd changed purses and left my change in the other one) and walked really fast. She followed me and so we hurried away. I could not stop thinking about her (I mean why is someone so young begging for food...she has her entire life in front of her) and we were standing on the corner by where I live and talking and saying bye to our friend that had come. I was looking down and realized I had 1/2 a pizza in my hands. I really wanted to run back and give it to her but she was gone. I had been so consumed on what I couldn't give her that I didn't realize what I could give her. It bothered me all night. Then at church as I listened to him speak I realized I could help India. I live on Edgware road aka India capital of London...all the homeless people around where I live are Indian also. I was walking home that night after church and the same girl came up to me again. I didn't have anything at all this time, but I decided next time I would. So I think I'm going to feed the homeless on my road. Jita said she'll come help me b/c she's done it before and it can get a little ugly. Once she bought a woman a sandwich and the lady threw it back at her and called her some rude things...so some only want ur money but others really do appreciate it. So I think I'm going to cook some veggies and divide them into baggies and then go hand them out (need to keep it nutritious), maybe get to know some of them. So we'll see...but I feel that God has really put that on my heart and may become my mission while here in London. Operation Kat feeding the homeless...

:) Well that's all I can type out right now. I'm sooooooo tired. So miss you all and love you! xoxo

Love KL

The lesson of why Thimbles are a good investment...

So my fingers almost bled today from basting...It was like being in a sweatshop...not really but it could have been! I never want to hand baste stitch anything ever again...except my homework is to baste all the seams and boning lines on my 30 piece corset. Well actually it is only 10 but it's three layers so you have to do all three. It took me 4 hours to do the first 10 in class today...and that was without taking the 30 min break to go get breakfast she gave us! (I guess that makes up for my sore finger tips...we get coffee breaks in all my classes...) But all I can say is my corset might have some blood shed, but it will be stunning I guarantee! I love my teacher. She is sooooo sweet and absolutely amazing. By the end I'll be able to produce a 1860s full boned corset that fits me! Very exciting...something I design that I can actually wear!

Tonight I had drawing and Illustration...we first drew a model...I kept having to start over b/c I have a problem with drawing too big...no matter how hard I try I always try and draw full scale and a 5'7" person does not fit on a 3ft drawing board... Then we drew only the outline of the model with our left hand and without lifting our charcoal...it was actually better than the one I spent an hour on...as my teacher says...it shows true line and movement...it speaks louder than our previous pieces...or something like that. Then we drew the outline of people with our nose touching our boards so we couldn't see what we were doing, then with each hand doing each side at the same time in two different colors of chalk, then we drew in the dark, and all of these were the ones where your charcoal never comes off the page, a continuous line... It was very entertaining and I actually learned a lot! :)

Ok well I have to endure draping class tomorrow at 9 am (aka I have to leave my apt at 8:00am to catch the tube on time) so I better be off to bed...hope you all enjoyed a little peak at my classes. :) loves.

<3 KL

Skip down...

you have to skip down a blog to read my latest...it posted from when I started it not when I finished it...

I'm an awful blogger I know!

(museum of natrual history)

So sorry about the delays...my Internet forecast has been a bit cloudy and it's been a bit chilly sitting on the floor in the hallway to reach the Internet...

Anyways or should I say anyway (like the English...my friend Jita loves trying out her American accent around us and that was her word of the day yesterday...) I have some really exciting stuff to tell but I'll post it later b/c it's like a week old and 1/2 written in a saved draft I never finished...

So Classes...they are great! I love them. My corsetry class is going to be phenomenal. We are making an original 1860's corset....with 36 pieces of boning in it! a lot of work but it will be gorgeous! My draping classes is really neat too. This week we worked on draping collars (or colors as I swear she calls them lol). We started on peter pan ones and then she made us drape one that was our favorite from the clippings we had brought in. It was neat b/c she didn't give us instruction on the second one, b/c she wanted us to be creative and try and figure out how to make our own ideas on our own. Then my shoe design class. We are working on a theme for our line this week and drawing lasts (the form that gives the basic shape to your shoe) so we can understand the proportion of the shoe. It's nothing like you'd think, fyi... And then I LOVE my drawing and Illustration class. It's really going to help me develop my own style of design and drawing... it's very free not a lot of life drawing. Then my mandatory classes are exciting. One we have a different speaker every week form the fashion industry, so that has been REALLY interesting. Then the other one is going to museums, we went to the Barbican last week and I'm just getting ready to leave for the Vand A. Then I have EIP which is learning about the History of London mixed with today's London and we go on really long walks around the city...last week we went to Parliament and around there. And by the end of the semester I am going to have more 'inspiration' books that I will never run out of inspiration...it's just crazy...:)

Sorry I can't tell more at the moment but I'll try to post all about my adventure this weekend. Miss and love you all! xoxo

-KAT (me at the museum of natural history...)

OMG...NO WILL BELIEVE WHO I MET TODAY!!!

ok so it was like a week and 1/2 ago...I'm just a really bad blogger with lots of saved drafts...anyways

Viktor and Rolf...as in the Dutch Designers...I know sooooooo exciting right? I went to their exhibition at the Barbican for my European Cultural History class on Friday and my roommate notices in the small print on the back of the pamphlet that it said they were going to be at the Barbican speaking the weekend of London Fashion Week...aka the next day! We asked about tickets and it was sold out, but they said if we came early we could check for any tickets that were returned. There were 8 so we bought 4 and called 2 of our friends and made them jump on the tube and come. It was so AMAZING! The beginning was kind of boring. All these people read papers they had wrote on them. One guy was relating their work to Plato...I just kept looking at Viktor and Rolf and kept wondering what was going through their heads...I'm pretty sure they were not thinking about Plato when they designed that dress. After intermission it was the interview with Viktor and Rolf...and you didn't have to sit in your assigned seat...meaning I got to sit in the third row and listen to them at eye level...it was amazing. Did you know that their boutique in the Netherlands in completely upside down? Literally the ceiling is the floor...the archways have cushions on them to make them benches. It is great! Afterward they were so kind and signed every one's programs. They signed my sketch book and my program. They were getting ready to leave and we asked for a picture with them. Their PR agent said no they needed to leave to catch their plane...and Viktor (well I think it was Viktor...they do everything together...they sign their name Viktor and Rolf not just one or the other...) leans over and says "Ve can do one picture." So we all jumped in and did the runway face they always do at the end of all their shows. It was great. I think they thought we where stalking them b/c we kept walking into them after we got off the elevator and then followed them out the front doors...and then I just had to take one more picture...so I have them getting in the car and then we waved frantically as they sped off to the airport. What a day. It was more like what a weekend.

The night before we went to an art exhibition where my friend Jin and I's work was displayed in a Gallery in the east end aka the art side of town. So now I've been published on a wall in London and had my photo with 2 famous designers! The exhibition was called Cinderella flash. We tried on really expensive dresses and took pictures. The idea is to take the photo ourselves with it over our face so there is a flash over our face. No one knows who it is, all they see is a beautiful gown on a beautiful, ordinary, everyday girl. It was really fun to shoot. A little intense and scary but we got through it! :)

So I think that catches everyone one up on all the exciting events that have happened. Oh I almost forgot. Jita and I went to some of the open houses in Westminster last week like the Banquet Room. On the way home we were having a photo shoot trying to find the pose that makes our legs look longest (yes we are just cool like that). We were posing by this statue by a Parliament building. There was a two foot wall edging this beautiful lawn...I thought it needed some life on if...it looked lonely. So I told Jita to jump over onto it and I would take her picture. So she did and then she runs back and says your turn! SO naturally I jump over and roll on it. All of a sudden we look up and the security guards are running over to us so I jump up and back over. They go back to their little security box and we are looking at the pics and they are all blurry so Jita says you have to do it again! So I scope it out and when they are looking the other direction I do it again. By now we have a crowd that are dying laughing, and know we are not suppose to be doing this. We are laughing really hard by now and I'm rolling around when all of a sudden Jita goes "RUN!"...we didn't see the guards at the other end...oops! They chased us down the street but we lost them and I don't think I have ever laughed that hard in my life. It was great...maybe a little illegal, but that perfect green grass needed some love. :) So that is all my adventures for now. I'm off to bed. Night! Love you all.

<3 KL

(Tower Bridge)

Pictures...

Some pictures...

OK so from top right to bottom left...Me at the Vogue House...Liberty, the oldest department store, amazing inside, the architecture is to die for...Carnaby St...Soho...Me at Harrods (notice the really cute shoes...they have strawberries on the toes)...Harrods chocolate, to die for, and their samples are whole pieces...Deepti and Me trying on lipstick in Harrods...MY 1st GOURMET DINNER!!! I made it my self, stuffed peppers and tomatoes...and then Church, Hillsong style (I finally got in)...

Ok sorry I haven't been keeping up...we have big Internet problems and on top of that my computer kept freezing b/c of all the photos I've been downloading, but I'm here! So I can't remember what I did Saturday or else I'd tell you, so I'll start with Sunday. My roommate Emelie, classmate Deepti, and I went to Harrods! It was even more amazing than I thought. Absolutely stunning...they literally sell everything. From Chanel to Diamonds to salmon to vegetables...it was kind of strange, they had a grocery store in it...I guess rich people get their apple's from Harrods? We walked around and looked at 9,000 GBP ostrich Prada bags and Jimmy Choos. I bought some chocolate and we had lunch there. It was amazing...and very reasonably priced. Afterwards the went to Harry Nichols and I rode the tube for the first time by myself...I came out alive and with all my belongings. I rode the tube to church. I went an hour and 20 mins early...so as not to have a repeat of last week. I met some really sweet people. They are sooooooooo friendly there and just walk right up to you and introduce you to people they think have the same interests as you etc. it was amazing...very homey feeling for a church of 10,000+. I sat next to a guy from Wales; he and his girlfriend had just moved back to Wales form Brazil. He works in a Christian Circus and now is going to seminary. They were very sweet and nice, and very interesting to talk to. The service was incredible. It was like being at a rock concert. They had neon lights flashing everywhere with smoke and an incredible worship team and band. They had a guest speaker form Ireland I think. He was really good and inspiring. It was funny listening to him speak b/c UK humor is so different and I had a delayed reaction a couple times b/c I couldn't figure out what he meant. :) or he would use phrases such as "sending out a negative report" (taking about the spys and moses) and that might sound normal, but how he was using it...it wasn't a phrase you'd never hear in the US. So it was a service full of cultural growth. :) But awesome...and a great message.

Classes Started Monday. They are awesome. After I finish Friday I'll give an overview of all of them and tell you all what I think. They are each only once a week, but a lot of intensive out of class work. The "essential reading list" for each class has over 10 library books! I'll be learning a lot...we have the largest fashion library in Europe. :)

Tomorrow I'm off to see Big Ben for my European Independent Project class and then on Friday we are going to the Victor and Rolf exhibition at the Barbican Museum. So it will be a very interesting end to my first week...

I need my beauty sleep so I'll tell you about the $6,000 dress I tried on today later. Hope everyone is doing well! love u all

love KAT...from a rainy London...

Touring around Tourist style...

So I'd like to dedicate this blog to my sister...since she never gets mentioned...Lindsay Elizabeth Swick...this one's for you. ;)

So yesterday I walked for 7 hours...all over London...literally...we were sporting the tape player guided tour. It was awesome. We were split into groups and followed an audio tour voiced by the best friend of one of my teachers. It was quite fun. He took us to a lot of secret favorite shops and cafes along with some famous tourist sites. I don't think I have ever walked so much in my life, but it was sooooo much fun and we saw some really neat things and only had a few wrong turns. We saw the biggest bookstore in Europe with an entire corner dedicated to fashion books. We went to a place with the best hot chocolate in London, and we went to this really cool place that had a court yard with shooting fountains that Jin and I played in (I can't remember it's name, it is an art museum now though). 5 hours of walking later...

We went back to the Davies Street campus to the Hub (student bar and cafe) and had welcome drinks that the school provided (I never would have believed a college to not only have a bar in it, but give you free wine as well!) I opted out of the wine (it was really gross and really strong) and went for the cranberry juice and some water. Then we heard some people talk and then it was time...time for my first sample sale... We rode the tube and then walked 30 minutes to this scary looking alley with a hidden sign that said designer sale. We went up some shady looking brick steps and after handing over out bags and jackets were in designer heaven with the likes of Viviene Westwood, a few other big names, and then some smaller new designers. It was awesome. There was also a live catwalk in the middle too. It was fun. Then we attempted to walk back to the tube but got lost b/c a few of us decided not to go out to dinner b/c we were so tired and just wanted to go home...an hour and 1/2 later...we gave up on the tube and found a bus. Only to miss our stop 40 mins. later and have to walk 15 mins home...the girls that went to dinner beat us. I was soooooooo tired but some how stayed awake quite a long while and finally crawled into bed and shivered for an hour b/c our apt. is ghetto and the heater isn't working and I couldn't fit my quilt in my suitcase...so I finally reached down and grabbed the comforter off the extra bed below me. Wow...what a day.

Then today I rode my first train! It was really fun, and we all had a lot of fun stories to share.... it was good bonding. :) We went to Brighton at the seaside. I never understood what true rain was till today...it poured...and blew...and poured some more. And of course I didn't wear my rain boots. I was soaked and my umbrella blew inside out about every 5ft. We all decided to go to fish and chips early b/c everyone was wet, cold, and miserable; only to find the wind was blowing to hard next to the peer you couldn't even walk...so we had to turn around and ended up at a pub that didn't have enough fish and chips for everyone. A group of us and my teachers braved it and went to another place that was around the corner...it ended up being the place we were going to originally and even though we couldn't use our umbrella's to get there, we got the best fish n' chips w/ mushy peas in Brighton. PS...my new favorite food...mushy pea's on fries. yum yum. We then walked around the antique shops a little, but our spirits weren't exactly in it, so a few decided to head back early. It was the funniest train ride I've ever experienced...ok so I've only had one...so my funniest ride on public transportation. There is a girl in my class who is actually from England and is just a riot. She says she's 30 but I can't really believe it. She looks 20...amazing skin I guess. :) but she's now searching for a new career. She was in India medicine before, and worked all over the world doing treatments. She has an amazing background and life. So now she is going to fashion school :). But this girl is amazing and we are trying to convince her to be a stand up comedian..b/c my cheeks hurt so bad from laughing by the time we got back to London. She can pick any famous person out of a crowd, like the other day we were walking and she goes, "That's the guy who won the apprentice!" and it was. She has also looked at the same dress w/ posh spice in a boutique once, and talked to Ice Q (she accidentally called him Ice tea and he goes, "the other ice..."), been hit on by the bald guy in lucky #7, been invited to one of Elton John's parties, and met some really famous British actors randomly on the streets. It's hilarious. So that was really interesting to get to know her better. A really sweet girl.

Then we came home and attempted to have movie night and ended up talking and laughing and then passing out from being so tired from our wet, rainy day. Did I mention I ate soup and cheese for dinner...jk sorry this was so detailed and not a lot of humor...I am so tired and am so excited to cuddle up in my freezing cold ghetto bed, where the springs dig into my ribs...I guess I have to have the real London experience and can go back to luxury at the Theta house when I go back to America the Beautiful...:) Good night from London and I'll try and post my pictures tomorrow...I'm just too tired...

love u all....
KAT

Orientation

Sorry I haven't written lately...:( I stay up too late writing on my blog that I am tired all day long! :) But I enjoy it so much so I'm going to have to get over it.

So orientation started yesterday. I got all the classes I wanted, so I was excited about that. Did I already tell you that? humm... anyway today we finalized that and then took a tour of London, so being the smart girl my parents raised...I wore comfy shoes instead of my really cute black boot heels...only to find that the tour was virtual aka slides in a class room...lame. Then we had a policeman (very cute...but married...) come in to talk to us about safety in London. I asked a few questions so I could avoid being hit by more buses (I won't tell that story or else my parents might make me come home). And afterwards I went to talk to one of my advisers and she asked me if I asked a question and I said yes and she told me he said I had a "lovely" voice...see that's the difference between rude Americans and the ever polite British (except when they drive). If I was in America he would have said, "You have a high voice." or "Squeakers?" or "Is that your real voice?"...in Britain...they think it's LOVELY...I think I like this country...

Then today we rode a double decker! I rode up top and in the front seat...quite a ride...here are some pics...

View from the top....
They like to get up close and personal...that's about 6 ins away from us...

And just as close on the sides...that's about 3ins...Cailin and I riding the bus...
Jin, Me, Emelie...eating at a cafe after a long day of big girl shopping....
Here's where we went...
Selfridges & Co this is where you get the good stuff...Chanel, Gucci, Armani, Dior, etc., etc....


And of course my friend Jimmy was there...oh Jimmy Choo shoes...
And then there was Louis and Chanel...and their stupid amazing purses...
And then we came back to reality and stopped by our ever faithful to be able to afford...Primark...it was so busy we couldn't even turn around. If you look close you can see all the people at the entrance...We decided to go to church instead and pray for Chanel bags...us in the tube on the way to churchJin, Emily, and Maggie waiting in the "Q" aka line for church...After being rejected at church we went to dinner and walked around China town...we found this...luckily we had already heard the sermon on temptation before we got kicked out of church so we resisted...
That night I think I truly caught the essence of London...Old and new...
OK now some fun pics...turn ur head to the right 90 degrees and you'll experience the view out one of the windows at LCF
and the GIANT apple store that is always packed w/ people...and this pic doesn't even do it justice...
OK well that's all for now.
love,
KAT