Tips and Tricks: 2012/13 F.I.T (AAS Fashion Design) Portfolio Requirements

Some of my info is a little dated. I see F.I.T. shortened the requirements A LOT from when I applied.
I may add to it more if I think of anything, but I'm just throwing out a few ideas for you all working with the new requirements.
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments:)

--also, I added a Google translator,  hopefully if you need it, it will work for you.

Top Reasons F.I.T. can (and will) REJECT your portfolio

1. Poorly Constructed Garment Test

I define poorly constructed in a couple of ways. The first comes down to bad sewing, jagged seams, an outfit that just doesn't make sense etc. It can also be something extremely generic.

I posted this at number 1 because I believe F.I.T. values sewing skills more than sketching if you are applying for to their Fashion Design Apparel Concentration course. My sketching has always been pretty good, and I got rejected TWICE for having a shitty garment test.

You also have to be careful that you don't try to sew something that's clearly beyond your skill.

2. Novice sketches.
F.I.T. does allow computerized sketching, if you are not an artist and your strength is more in sewing, I'd suggest you take advantage of this just to have clean looking drawings.

Stuff that doesn't really matter after the jump

Tailoring Your Portfolio: Strengths and Weaknesses

I got an email the other day from a reader that inspired this post. She was good at sewing and had looks done for the garment portion of her test, and wanted to sketch them, but was wondering if she should still do a mini collection like I'd suggested here. I told her she should definitely just sketch the looks she'd sewed instead. Since she was better at sewing that worked for her. I chose to do my mini collection since sketching was my stronger more confident area. For some of you, you may feel equally good at sketching and sewing. Make sure that whatever area you feel weaker in you work the longest and the hardest on (I wanted to throw my sewing machine out of my window).

RC

Post Rejection: Cry, Throw Your Sketchbook Against the Wall, Curse Everyone that DID get excepted, now, Strategize

Okay, this post is dedicated to all the people who, like I did in the past, instead of that great big packet you got that shitty form letter, which basically told you you're not good enough to learn how to be better. Yes, say it with me, you're not good enough to learn how to be better. Let off all your steam, some of you make take longer than others, but, if you want it bad enough, you're going to get to this point.
Reapplying, putting 3000% into your next portfoilio, and getting that big acceptance packet.

Essay Tips (Updated with Formatting Tips 12/29)

************UPDATED 9/5/12  check out my Tip and Tricks for F.I.T.'s new guidelines Click Here

Sorry for posting this so late. But here I am. I wanted to post my essay, spelling errors and all, but I can't find it anywhere, which sucks. If I do come across it I will definitely post it. 


 I'm going to keep my tips simple, I realize not everyone is a writer, and there's nothing wrong with that. But a lot of times it can be confusing about what to leave in and take out, so we are going to talk about that and we are going to talk about some essay pitfalls you need to avoid. Overall this essay, particularly if you aren't doing a face to face interview, is the only time you have to express yourself in words, so that they know who you are, meaning you're essentially pitching yourselves to these people, and keep in mind its always competition.

Design Test

I will be uploading a tips and tricks for drawing soon. But just wanted to share the sketches from my design test I picked Spring in Tokyo Japan. The purpose of the design test is for F.I.T. to see your ability to merchandise, this is why you can only use a certain set of looks and you have to mix and match them. I hate the coloring on the first one, I remember being scared the marker would blur out the detail lol.

Tips and Tricks (Updated with Sketches)

1. When doing the fashion artwork portion of the test. Do a mini collection instead of random dresses. If you are a particularly great sketcher, you can throw something in that doesn't go. But my advice would be to design a collection around that outfit.
Why? is what you might be asking. The reason is this. F.I.T. is primarily looking for students that can get jobs when they graduate, the more students that find jobs the more money they get from the state. I know that doesn't sound glamorous does it? Yet it's true. If you show them that you can focus your ideas, you get the edge.

Here's what I did for my portfolio. Excuse some of the coloring, it just goes to show you don't have to have a prefect portfolio to get excepted. The theme I chose was cocooning.

Dealing with Rejection

I spent a lot of time with this blog talking about how to get IN to FIT, but nothing really about how to deal with the painful aspect of not receiving that big white magical acceptance package.
It sucks. Big time.
I cried the first time I got mine. I think I cried harder the when I got the second one.
I promised myself I would take my time, start my new portfolio six months in advance and this was going to be the LAST TIME I applied to this damn school.
Mind you this resolve came after my second rejection letter.
Tidbit of note: There was actually a 5 year break between my first and second application.
I don't think I can even find the words to express the anguish I felt when I got rejected from this school. This is something I've wanted to do since I was seven years old. I actually have sketches that date back to the early 90's and here these people were telling me I wasn't good enough. In a shitty form letter no less.
Well here's a lesson I wish someone would have told me the first time: Get back on the damn horse and apply again. This is why I say it's SOOOO important to go to Portfolio Day. It can be pretty brutal, the line for F.I.T. was horrendous, but if I hadn't gone, I know for a fact I probably wouldn't have gotten in. Seeing their 'standard' accepted portfolio allowed me to see what they wanted and scrap what I was currently doing to tailor my portfolio to that. Something you might not know is that there is a formula for getting into this school; a very commercial, boring formula, and it's all over this blog. But it's a small price to pay for cheap education (compared to Parsons). As Ralph Rucci says: "Once you know the rules - it's easy to break them." -- Good Luck

Some of My Portfolio Work

I will also upload a tips and tricks post, about little extras I did that I feel rounded out my portfolio

Copying Poses

Everyone has different styles, copying a pose doesn't mean you have to get it exact. You just use it to get familiar with proportion. I kind of got tired of my poses, which looked kind of stiff, and everything looked similar, so this year I started experimenting with different poses to use for my portfolio. Changing your poses gives people something to look at that's unexpected, not to mention it can really add mood to your garment.
Here's one I did. I ripped this photo out of Oprah Magazine. I had intentions to put it up days ago. But considering the fact that my room is so sloppy I could hide t-rex fossils, Sam and Dean Winchester(whoo!) and a pack of wolves in here it took me some time to muster the strength to look for them.

I chose the middle pose

Inspiration Test

There's going to be a portion of your application where you basically can make up an outfit about something your inspired by, a bird, a painting, a building (just examples) etc. I changed mine about three times. This is one of the main reasons you want to apply early. You'll have time to find better things and get completely dissatisfied with the things you already have (like I did). For this portion I did two sketches, one for the front and one for the back. I will eventually put up my sketches, but I want to get my acceptance or sigh, third (and final) rejection before I dare. I don't think I need any extra jinx, do you?

If you are a particularly good artist, this is the part of your app where you should go a bit more avant garde. Obviously you don't have to, but why not? It is a competition after all.

What F.I.T. is looking for

Not to make you nervous if this is your first time applying, but, when you apply to this school, You are competing with people from all over the world for a chance to get into this school. At any point after you apply and you think for a second to send in something second rate (like I did), keep this fact in mind to push yourself harder. Don't even bother to shell out the forty dollar application fee if you aren't going to give it one 100%.

The best advice I can offer is this, if it's humanly possible, go to Portfolio Day if it is scheduled anywhere near you in the coming year. You can have your portolio reviewed by someone at F.I.T. This is particularly helpful if you're like me and don't live anywhere near NY and your college doesn't offer any classes on Fashion Design. Regardless of whether the feedback is good or bad the main purpose for going is that they will show you a sample portfolio of an accepted student that will give you the gist of what they want.