22 #2
New York is full of designers and design houses.
Each of these places tries hundreds, if not thousands, of new designs every year.
I am not talking so much about the one-off stuff that I wear on the runway, but the lower-level stuff that fills the stores both in the States and around the world.
This stuff has to be looked at, appraised, photographed, and decisions made on it.
Most of these pieces never see the light of day.
But some do, and that is what will be in the stores.
Now, you would think that you could give this clothing away, but you can not.
Because it is all proprietary designs, and you do not want them floating in the second-hand clothing market.
So these clothes are given to places that are willing to find homes for them, and modeling agencies are one of these places.
The Ellen Agency is filled with rooms filled with worn-out or never-worn clothing that the designers have no use for.
What is hoped is that the models will find the clothing, take it home, and wear it.
Then that piece gets exposure. However, after a year in the rooms, it really is past its prime.
And it has to be destroyed. That is where Rho comes into this.
We take the clothing and allow the designers and manufacturers to use our name and say that we wear the clothing.
And some we do. And that is allowed, but the woman wearing the dress or other piece can never own it. Does that make sense?
Only in America, only in fashion.
So before a big event, I handle the Rho sisters selecting what they want, and once they are done, I allow the other sororities to do the same thing.
And we all benefit. The tags are always in the clothing, and we make the borrower take a series of photos with them in the item, and then we send the photos to the designer.
Everyone benefits.
And then, it was into the Mercer Studios for some KK Brand work.
My time was obviously more valuable than the British team's time.
We used local hair and makeup, out of Cleveland, and found some woman at the Outlet Mall who had done dressers' work before, and that was what we needed there: local.
So it was the fashion handlers, one who prepped the clothing and accessories and made sure everything was as it should be, the photographers, and the art director who had to fly into Grove City.
And I did a week's worth of twelve-hour days. Then the big weekend for Rho.
Carmine drove her 911; luxury has its place. I wore the silver gown for the UAE, the jewelry, the custom red-soled heels, and carried my sapphire rainbow clutch. I will not describe the underwear. That is Carmine’s privilege, not yours.
Carmine did a black and white femme tux with a full top hat and did them proud.
Her hair was short, and she wore four-inch heels, so she was only about an inch shorter than I was.
Carmine is the same height as Angel, just about two bra sizes and two cup sizes larger.
And she was carrying a silver and ebony cane that I did not know where she found. It was perfect beyond belief.
Of course, we were photographed, and everyone knew what was going to happen.
My mother, being a Rho faculty advisor, had managed to get a ticket to attend.
You could never keep her away, I fear. And the event was perfect.
Perfect spring wear, perfect food. Great music and dancing.
Exactly what you want to say is goodbye to nineteen great friends who will be part of your life forever.
And the election results were announced.
You do not run, and you can not say no; this is an honor.
I was elected to the guiding committee, think board of directors, and my role was national sorority interface.
I was the sister who was the contact from our sorority to the national.
And this was OK, as I could afford the travel required and the clothes for the different events.
I suspected that this was going to happen.
I was asked if I had an issue with the requirements, given that I have to travel for modeling so much.
But you know, I was honored to accept the role, and my mother was honored by my being offered the role within the sorority.
Mom, well, she was a bit disappointed that neither of the twins even looked at a sorority, but everyone’s needs are different.
I knew Mom had belonged to a sorority, and I knew that she was involved with one at Slippery Rock; the name, and I am sure that I was told, however, the name went over my head totally.
And I was shocked that she was the individual who pinned me.
So yes, I do get a bit pissed at my mother, but let’s be honest, she is a fantastic mother, and I am really closer to her than boy Shannon ever was.
And the following week, I submitted my paper for the Women’s Studies program formally.
Now, this was the formal handing over of the bound copy of the work; I had already submitted the electronic version.
When I handed in the bound copy, I was immediately handed my grade for the six hours of work, a perfect 100.
So that was great. And then I talked at length about the fall proposal for doing a similar piece on the usage of transgender models in the Middle East to avoid the Islamic restrictions on visually seeing a woman in many of the cultures.
And since I had already booked the UAE shoot, that meant that half of my schedule for the fall semester was set.