It is one of those congenial mornings when I woke up reminiscing fond memories back from my fashion college days. Time moves on so quickly that I almost failed to grasp that it has been over a year since I graduated from the Department of Fashion Design, National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi.
It is funny how as a student, all I did was whine about the endless assignments and submissions and here the transient life brings me to a point when I hopelessly yearn to relive those crazy moments.
As a fashion design student, three things that I did all day was to
1. Work
2. Work
3. Work
I mean it.
Strangely, all the preliminary research and conceptualisation of design takes 95% of the time period while the bigger task – execution happens overnight. Twenty-four hours are never enough in a day when you have to be an artist, photographer, graphic designer, carpenter, sculptor, research analyst, visual merchandiser, tailor, and many more things, all at the same time in continuum for four years. Sound of the sewing machine becomes music to ears and the air you breathe carries the smell of muslin. Students in a fashion college don’t get time to go out on a date. Visiting fabric stores for sourcing with your bae is more or less the date. Usually, the saying is “from rags to riches”, but in a fashion college it is “from riches to rags”. Studying in a fashion college is expensive, period. And in spite of all the exhaustion and chaos, fashion colleges are individualistic, fun, and cooler than the rest.
In association with COLLEGE DUNIA, here is my take on why a fashion college is the coolest place to study in.
2. FASHION COLLEGES ARE ALWAYS BUZZING WITH HAPPENING ACTIVITIES & OTHER DESIGN WORKSHOPS
3. THE WORK WE DO IS MORE HANDS-ON AND LESS THEORY
Pattern Making
Garment Construction
At Dying lab
4. EVEN IF IT’S THEORY, THE SETUP IS LESS DEMANDING….. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN 😀
History of fashion module
5. MARKS? NOBODY BATS AN EYE! MANAGE TO GET A PASS GRADE AND THAT’S ALL. TOPPER IN A FASHION COLLEGE? WELL… YOU ARE A STUDIOUS STUDENT – THAT’S THE ONLY CONCLUSION TO BE SURE OF.
6. WE ARE INSOMNIACS & SOMETIMES SLEEP IN THE LAB.
7. IN A FASHION COLLEGE, WE DON’T MIND MESS… WE LIKE TO GET OUR HANDS DIRTY!
With all that stationary and work, even our apartment is messy sometimes 😀
8. FASHION COLLEGES DON’T HAVE CONSERVATIVE DRESSCODE NORMS
Students at NIFT New Delhi
I have heard tales about crazy dress code norms like anything sleeveless, t-shirts etc. being banned in other Indian colleges… It’s the last thing to happen in a fashion college. A pair of shorts? Mini Skirt? Denim? Tshirts? Shirt? Vest? Blazer? Well.. You can wear it all and nobody stops you.
9. WE MAKE STYLISH CLOTHES… DUH!
My batch-mate Smridhi Mehra working on her graduate collection.
10. AND WE WEAR WHAT WE CREATE
Friends wearing my creations.
Ensemble 1- Double-collared blouse + Dhoti inspired trouser
Ensemble 2- Dress inspired by deconstruction
Ensemble 3- Peplum top with notch collar seams + Lungi
11. AND OF COURSE, THE FASHION SHOWS
First-ever fashion show in my life at NIFT New Delhi, Fashion Spectrum 2012
Models wearing creations of Fashion Design students at Fashion Spectrum 2012, NIFT New Delhi. My creation – second from left.
12. IN A FASHION COLLEGE, MOST STUDENTS ARE PART-TIME MODELS TOO.
Students help out fellow batch-mates by modeling for photoshoot sessions.
13. BETTER JUNIOR-SENIOR RELATIONSHIP
Fashion colleges have a relatively small crowd and almost everybody in the department knows each other. Juniors and seniors co-exist in harmony, with lesser attitude issues helping each other with their work, which is mostly unseen in other colleges.
14. UBER-COOL TEACHERS
Fashion colleges have faculties who often value our personal liberties.
15. SEX RATIO
Unlike other colleges, girls outnumber boys here.
16. INDIVIDUALISM
We do not conform with the crowd, we do not defy the crowd. We just become ourselves.
17. FASHION STUDENTS PARTY LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW…
WE ARE OUT IN THE STREETS AT 4 AM IN SEARCH OF FOOD 😀
18. AND WE STILL WAKE UP THE NEXT DAY TO MULTITASK!
19. AND LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST, WE BE THE MOST STYLISH FOLKS B-)
Apart from your interest in fashion, well aren’t the reasons jazzy enough to enroll in a fashion college? Visit College Dunia to find yourself the most suitable fashion school on basis of location, ranking, rating, fees, and cut-off for different competitive exams.