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Written by Veronica Townsend
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Friday, January 13 2012 01:06 |
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As 2012 gets going, it's true that people tend to make resolutions or plan to make improvements in their lives that are heralded by the New Year. Often, people's resolutions consist of shedding a few pounds, living a healthier life style, or eating better foods. Sometimes people set goals for success in areas such as work or school, or even plan a life-changing trip or vacation. However, have you ever thought about putting others first as one of your New Year's resolutions?
One of the greatest and most effective ways to improve oneself is to work towards benefiting others. Start the New Year off right by taking on small, simple tasks that can allow you to better assist other people. Not only will those you are helping feel grateful, but you will feel satisfaction as well. Help an elderly neighbor or a member in the family that may need your presence.
Feel like taking on a bigger task? Get involved in a local not-for-profit organization and give some of your time as a volunteer. Want to really make a change? Nothing is impossible. If you set your mind to something, who says it can't be done? The opportunities are endless. Start your own organization or charity and you could work your way up to run a company that helps others. You can even travel on a mission trip locally or abroad.
Use the gifts you were given to really help make a difference in the lives of others and you will feel renewed and satisfied in ways you would not have imagined. Start this year off right by taking small steps that will make a huge impact in the community! Just like Gandhi once said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."
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Real Wide World
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Written by UDress Magazine
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Sunday, December 11 2011 22:28 |
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Did You Know?
The Food Bank of Delaware serves over 240,000 Delawareans annually
44 % of members are children under 18 years old
15% of members are homeless
49.1 million Americans struggle to feed themselves
The Food Bank of Delaware is in need of YOUR help! They are in need of nonfood items such as:
- Diapers and wipes
- Toothpaste & toothbrushes
- Shampoo & conditioner
- Bar soap
- Paper products
- Plastic utensils
Visit the Food Bank of Delaware to volunteer and give to your community.
14 Garfield Way
Newark, Delaware 19713
For more information, please visit the following sites.
www.fbd.org
www.facebook.com/FoodBankofDE
www.twitter.com/FoodBankofDE
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Written by Julie Cohen
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Tuesday, November 15 2011 18:08 |
On October 21st I made my way to New York City to attend Teen Vogue Fashion University. Sponsored by Teen Vogue magazine, Teen Vogue Fashion University is a weekend long program where accepted students take seminars from well known designers and other major players in the fashion industry, including bloggers, entrepreneurs, makeup artists and stylists, not to mention shopping events at H&M and Topshop. Oh, and you get a killer goodie bag filled with nail polish, makeup, and perfume samples!
The classes started Saturday morning where I, along with about 500 other fashion obsessed students who were all dressed to the nines, waited patiently to fill into the auditorium to hear the keynote speaker, Michael Kors. After watching a short video about the fashion legend, Michael Kors came out and charmed us with his wit and honest advice. Next up was a seminar from four fashion bloggers who write for IntoTheGloss.com, TheCoveteur.com and FashionPirate.net. My next class was with Lisa Salzer who is the designer for a jewelry line called Lulu Frost. Her pieces are gorgeous and I learned that she makes her pieces out of vintage jewelry. On my lunch break I took an optional seminar to go see Jessica Simpson's showroom just a few blocks away, where chandeliers hung from the ceiling and the walls were lined with beautiful shoes. After lunch I saw Whitney Port, who talked about her line Whitney Eve and gave us all advice on how to break into the business. Next I saw Amy Levin from CollegeFashionista.com, who at only 24 years old runs her own very successful and rapidly growing college style site. Lastly, all the students came back to the auditorium to have a Q&A with the editors of Teen Vogue. The next day we came back to hear a seminar called "Fashion In The Digital Age" and listened to Hilary Kerr and Katherine Power of WhoWhatWear.com, Rich Tong, the fashion director of Tumblr, Aliza Licht who is the voice of DNKY's famous twitter account @dknyprgirl and Susan Koger of ModCloth.com as they discussed the future of the online fashion world.
If you want to be a part of this inspirational, educational and very fashionable weekend, you can apply this summer for a spot in Teen Vogue Fashion University 2012, or if you can't wait that long, you can catch a few seminars from this year online at http://fashionu.fora.tv/.
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Real Wide World
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Written by Deirdre Stafford
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Tuesday, October 11 2011 20:57 |
January 2006 marked the beginning of TOMS, a new shoe line started in the U.S. that was created to help shoeless people in Argentina.
On a vacation, Blake Mycoskie traveled to Argentina to have fun and learn to play polo. The area that he was staying in was extremely poor, and as he explored the villages, he realized the people who lived there did not even have shoes. He went back home and began by making 250 pairs of shoes to sell to people in the U.S. and with every pair sold, he would make a new pair for someone in Argentina. The name TOMS comes from - "the shoes for tomorrow project." The company is now able to give their shoes to people in other countries and makes a point to hand deliver every single pair.
The actual shoe is modeled after the native shoe in Argentina called the "alpargata." The shoe comes in many different colors and is made for men as well.
Mycoskie's business grew so rapidly that the company recently sold their millionth pair of TOMS shoe. In June 2011, TOMS was able to expand the company with a new eyewear collection with the same goals - for every pair of eyeglasses or sunglasses bought, TOMS gives someone's vision back.
Not only are the shoes fashionable and affordable, but they are for an amazing cause as well.
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Written by Maggie Moore
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Monday, August 29 2011 13:38 |
Zara, the fast fashion retailer the world has come to love, is speeding towards the future. Its parent company, Inditex, is one of Spain's largest companies (there are over 1,500 Zara stores worldwide, and they're launching online shopping in the United States). Yet alongside all these developments is a bigger headline - one of Zara's suppliers is being investigated for slave labor and unsafe working conditions - and Zara isn't doing much about it. With so much momentum happening for Zara, why are they complacent with taking steps backwards?
Brazilian authorities recently received a tip about a supplier, and raided the unsafe sweatshops producing Zara's clothing. The sweatshops were full of "unhygienic working conditions," and employees were working for the Brazilian equivalent of only $130 a month. Many of the workers in the manufacturing factories worked twelve-hour shifts at a time. Even if the supplier is a "non-authorized outsourcer" as Zara claims, it's still the retailer's responsibility to keep business and production standards up to code.
Zara isn't the only retailer to use unsavory manufacturing processes. Companies ranging from The Gap to Nike have been thrown into the spotlight for child labor and unsafe conditions. Since the scandals, these companies made drastic changes to their suppliers' code of conduct, and strictly enforced it. Zara, on the other hand, is only asking their sweatshop supplier to "regularize the situation" and improve conditions just enough to meet Brazilian laws and supplier standards. With such grave infractions and accusations, it would be a more ethical and dignified move for Zara to drop the supplier completely. Although Zara is the store everyone loves, their business practices are definitely leaving something to be desired.
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Written by Maggie Moore
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Monday, August 22 2011 06:15 |
Newsweek magazine has the same duty as any other trusted, professional publication - report the current events and news of the times in a clear and honest way. Newsweek is America's second-largest weekly news source, and its cover is often devoted to political figures and movements. With such prestige and a large readership, it should be considered a trustworthy source for political news. Which is why it came as such a shock to see Newsweek's recent cover of GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann.
Bachmann is an undeniably polarizing candidate. Her extreme stances on gay rights, religion, and evolution have pushed her into the spotlight, and her outspokenness provides some unbelievable interview sound bites. Despite being a politician that some people would never dream of backing, she is still a presidential candidate, and deserves to be treated with a certain level of respect. Newsweek editor Tina Brown defends the unflattering photo chosen for the cover as one meant to show Bachmann's "intensity." Yet many readers only see her "crazy eyes."
It's difficult to believe that this issue of the magazine isn't operating under some sort of bias. The primary thought that comes to mind is the editors of Newsweek may be letting their own liberal leanings affect their journalism. Another thought, and to me the more upsetting reason, is that the magazine is proving itself to be sexist towards women. In 2009, Newsweek printed a cover of Sarah Palin that received a lot of flack as well. I remember seeing the image of her in tight athletic shorts displayed on the grocery store newsstand, before I heard about the political drama swirling behind the cover, and thinking to myself "Why did they make her wear that outfit?"
As many political and media commentators pointed out, it's unlikely Newsweek would portray a powerful male politician with an expression as unsettling as Bachmann's, or in an outfit as casual and body-conscious as Palin's. Regardless of Newsweek's agenda or biases, the job of the magazine is to present the facts first, and their choice of Bachmann's photo was unprofessional and worrisome. If Bachmann wishes to portray herself as an intolerant, extremely right-winged candidate, let her words and political opinions do that for her. A magazine cover should not have a part in painting that picture.
photos: theweek.com, huffingtonpost.com
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Written by Maggie Moore
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Thursday, August 18 2011 09:57 |
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Goodbye, New York
This is the last week of my summer internship in New York City, and as I start packing up to leave town, I find that I'm getting a little nostalgic for the city life already. As my train pulls out of Penn Station, here are the things I will miss the most (and the parts of New York, I'll admit, I'm glad to leave behind)!
Sad to See it Go
- The view from the top: My one-room home is on the 11th floor of the building, so while the square footage may not be much, the view is pretty spectacular. I can easily see the Empire State Building, the downtown skyline and an exceptionally large rooftop garden of green. The glistening city lights are the perfect goodnight at the end of a long day.
- "The Sandwich Man": His real name and the name of his hole-in-the-wall store are still mysteries to me, although I suppose it's probably printed on the bright yellow awning, but the "Sandwich Man" off of Broadway makes the best lunches around. Even during the afternoon rush, you can leave the counter with sandwich in hand in under 2 minutes.
- Bryant Park: This popular watering hole of sorts is a nice time out from the hustle and bustle of Midtown, and the tables under the shade of the trees are where I eat lunch almost every weekday.
- Trader Joe's: When I think about the box of cereal I could get for $5.50 at the corner store, or the box for $2 at Trader Joe's, it makes my hike to the Chelsea location all the more worth it. And the store employees are the friendliest crew around!
- The fashion, of course: What fashion junkie doesn't love the shopping and creative street style New York has to offer? Living in the city and working in the fashion industry for the summer has forced me to eat, sleep, and breathe fashion - and I wouldn't have it any other way!
No Love Lost
- Bumper cars: New Yorkers have a reputation for jaywalking and crossing the street whenever they feel like walking - but in my experience, the drivers in the city are just as impatient. It only takes one or two near misses for smart pedestrians to learn to look left-right-left before stepping from the curb.
- The rising thermometers: I love summertime, but being trapped within the furnace of the city streets, in 105 degree weather, is no day at the beach.
- The shout outs: Usually I do my best to just ignore the comments called out by creepy construction workers and street vendors as myself and other females pass by, but hearing a low whistle at 8 AM, when I'm running late for work, is always an irritating way to start the day.
- "Planned Service Changes": I dread seeing this sign posted in the subway tunnels, and it's been a frequent occurrence this summer. However, it's worse when I don't see it, and wait a good twenty minutes for a train that's never coming.
- The price tags: I've become so used to paying $5 for coffee that I barely bat an eye anymore at the crazy costs of living in New York City, but my bank account is sure feeling the effects!
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Written by Maggie Moore
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Tuesday, August 02 2011 06:53 |
Unemployment is still high, internships are nearly impossible to find, and living with your parents is only acceptable for so long. Oh, what some would do for a job. This collective desperation is driving the workforce of our country to take any steady work offering that can be found, including jobs with unbelievably terrible bosses.
Complaining about bad managers has always been a favorite employee pastime, but as we lose the ability to be selective in our careers, venting has become an even more popular conversation to have over happy hour drinks. Now, we use every available outlet to air our frustrations.
Every day, as I walk down my street on my way to work, I pass a huge billboard for the newly released movie "Horrible Bosses." The movie stars Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell as "psycho," "man-eater," and "tool" bosses, respectively. Their disgruntled employees hatch a plan to murder the employers, a fairly extreme (and not recommended) solution to workplace drama. Yet despite the cheesy plot, in the movie's opening weekend it grossed over $28 million. Clearly, the storyline resonates with people.
Another popular haven for sarcastic managerial criticism is the Tumblr page "Please Fire Me." In a succinct statement or two, readers can follow the page's directions "Submit if You Can't Quit" and anonymously post why they despise their job. A small handful of examples: "Please fire me. My supervisor told me my desk was too clean", "Please fire me. I have been here for three years and my boss still calls me Carl. My name is not Carl," and an exceptionally bizarre one, "Please Fire Me. Instead of coffee, my boss drinks powdered chicken broth from a mug. Four or five cups a day."
Spending forty hours a week in a cramped office with an irksome supervisor can be enough to push anyone over the edge. Another poorly run meeting or pointless memo, and your boss could rival the ridiculousness of Michael Scott. But it's important to know when to "grin your teeth and bear it" for the sake of keeping your job. Any office moments that feel even slightly like harassment (be it sexual, verbal, or racial in any way) should instantly be reported to HR without question. Yet sometimes the little annoying quirks and bad qualities of a boss need to be ignored as much as possible in the office, and then can be yelled about later in the privacy of your own home. Of course, if you have a really horrendous manager and your patience is running thin, consider giving them a small anonymous gift: a copy of the corporate self help guide Good Boss, Bad Boss.
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Written by Emily Barbeau
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Tuesday, July 26 2011 10:04 |
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Looking for an internship this Fall semester? Located in or around the NYC area? I-ELLA.com is looking for passionate and motivated interns to join our team!
I-ELLA.com is an online fashion marketplace where users can share their closets, bid in celebrity auctions, and give back to their favorite charities. Recently named one of "NYC's Top 10 StartUps to Watch" by Time Inc, I-ELLA has worked with industry insiders and celebrities such as Whitney Port, Lala Vasquez, and John Legend.
I-ELLA interns would be responsible for:
-Creating original articles for the website and newsletters
-Editing celebrity and insider interviews
-Assisting on in-house photo shoots
-Providing customer assistance
-Managing all inventory and keeping the fashion closet organized
And the best part? Unlike most fashion internships, this one is paid!
Interested? Send your cover letter and resume to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
. Your future career in fashion awaits. |
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Written by Paige Yourtee
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Monday, July 25 2011 20:45 |
A red varnished sole on a high heeled shoe signifies the work and craftsmanship of shoe maven Christian Louboutin. Louboutin-who has a red-sole trademark so that he can uphold his profound universal distinction-is ready to battle as he takes his trademark to the courtroom once again.
A lawsuit, pushed by Louboutin against fashion house Yves Saint Laurent, is currently underway. Louboutin claimed that a red YSL shoe with a red sole infringes on the trademark that he was granted in 2008. Louboutin and his attorney Harley Lewin believe YSL has caused consumer confusion, and a loss of sales for Louboutin, because of this monochromatic pump. He is seeking $1 million in damages. However, does he have any concrete proof that he endured such financial loss?
YSL's attorney, David Bernstein, fired back stating, "Louboutin's trademark should have never been granted" because no "designer should be able to monopolize any color."
Furthermore, Louboutin's assertion that he was the first to create red-soled shoes is groundless. Red-soled shoes in fact have a long history, dating back to the footwear of King Louis XIV in the 1600's. YSL even worked with a red colored sole in the 70's, while Louboutin's line didn't emerge on the fashion scene until 1992.
Louboutin still holds strong to his trademark, understanding that he does not "own every shade of red under the sun." Yet, he takes pride in his particular bright lacquered red and feels that YSL's choice of red was far too similar.
(image: nymag.com)
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