Woody's Bar and Restaurant

By Patrick Bartscherer


Known around the city as Philly’s “Gay Mecca” club, Woody’s Bar and Restaurant has served the LGBT community since it opened in 1980. Located in what is known as Philadelphia’s “Gayborhood,” the nightclub attracts men and women of all ages with their themed nights such as college night on Wednesdays, which appeals to the underage crowd, as well as line dancing night where everyone can feel like a cowboy (or cowgirl!). Woody’s has made several transformations and renovations since the opening, but a recent total overhaul has brought Woody’s to a higher standard.

The first major change in Woody’s appearance is the first floor lounge that the owners aptly call the “The Pub.” Originally, the downstairs portion of Woody’s consisted of two dimly lit rooms with old carpeting that attracted an older more “experienced” crowd. A dingy bar countertop circled around the original beer taps that leaked more beer then they served. Now, over 32 draft beers are on tap from Irish microbreweries to national favorites; the Pub has something for everyone. Floor to ceiling windows span the wall facing the street and bright LED TVs wrap around the enormous bar and young bartenders serve up pint-sized cocktails to a trendier city going crowd.

"The Pub" - Photo courtesy of Woody's 

Woody’s has also stepped up their game when it comes to their nightclub located on the second floor. Modeled after top New York City clubs, the owners have revamped their sound and lighting system in order to attract a consistently larger crowd. A visual equalizer lines the walls and lights up the massive hardwood dance floor. The bars have been replaced with elegant granite countertops and CO2 fog cannons keep dancers cool throughout the night.

The Club - Photo courtesy of Woody's

From a worn down tavern to a two-story mega nightclub, Woody’s Bar and Restaurant has become a must for any Philadelphia resident looking to forget about the busy workweek and let off some steam dancing the night away. Their long list of tasty beers will impress even the snobbiest of beer connoisseurs, and the new dance floor area has enough pizzazz to keep visitors coming back for more. More information on Woody’s events can be found on their website at woodysbar.com.

TOMS - how much is too much?

I had to reevaluate my opinion of TOMS shoes recently, when the catalog came in the mail. It was that feeling a hipster gets when their favorite indie band hits the top of the Billbaord charts – or so I imagine.

From apparel, to youth footwear, a glitter and corduroy line …even eyewear?

You’re killin’ me TOMS.

I get it, I get it – one for one.

But the whole “We give sight for every sunglass purchase” angle is pushing it, and the endless promotional emails are forcing me to resent them almost as much as Groupon.

Thus, I am forced to pose the question – How much is too much?

When a company experiences success, should they continue to expand product lines and assortment, saturating the market and hitting the consumer over the head with what made them big? Or should they maintain their business model, allowing for gradual increase in profits, rather than peaks and valleys? After experiencing success, it is difficult for anyone to restrain a concept instead of running with it. However, in the case of TOMS, the latter option might have been desirable. The “One For One” driven company has lost their exclusivity and are devaluing their product. That is, in my eyes anyway.

After seeing TOMS tees and babies in pink glittery cordones on the streets almost daily, my interest is dwindling.

What do you think?

Stylitics: Virtual Wardrobe and Style Assistant

By Christy Lucca

Stylitics.com is an up-and-coming website that coins itself as “your own personal style assistant that makes being stylish easier than ever.” Thousands of fashionistas have been testing out this new style platform, which launched late last year. Stylitics offers a way for its users to view their wardrobe virtually while incorporating personal style trends, outfit history, and connections to popular brands.

The website serves to facilitate a smarter way for people to make decisions about their wardrobe. Users can input every item in their wardrobes and update them according to what they buy and wear each day. For each item, Stylitics will show the last time you wore it and other items you wear most with it. It keeps track of how much you spend on your wardrobe, so you can make smarter buys. It also sends alerts according to trends in your area and new ways to wear items in your wardrobe.

One of our own Design and Merchandising students at Drexel, Caitlin Stelben, is a campus representative for the company. She believes that, “It’s beneficial to students because they receive feedback about what they wear, allowing them to make smarter purchase choices in the future.”

Stylitics is the first website of its kind and revolutionizes the way people think about their own style. One of its biggest perks is the rewards and incentives from brands the more you use the website. After its launch, Stylitics will continue to grow and could potentially become the next biggest “trend.”

Visit the following websites for more information: http://www.stylitics.com/

http://www.facebook.com/Stylitics

http://stylitics.tumblr.com/

Can you see us now?

SOPA

By: Candice Watts

For as long as people have been freely surfing the worldwide web, there have been arguments over copyright infringement and financial loses.

SOPA or the Stop Online Priacy Act is a bill introduced on October 26th, 2011. The bill was proposed by Texas Republican Lamar S. Smith, to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. In other words, SOPA would make it possible for companies to block the domain names of web sites that are simply capable of, or seem to encourage copyright infringement. The bill, if made into a law, would also allow rights holders to cut off the source of funding of any potentially infringing web site. This means if a website has a tool that provides users to post information, such as YouTube.com or Tumblr.com, and the posted information exhibits copyright infringement, any other companies doing business with this site would have to stop, including search engines and advertising companies.

On Wednesday, January 18th, there was the largest online protest in history, when Google.com got over seven million people to sign petitions against the bill. Other websites such as Wikipedia.com and its British partner Reddit.com organized an Internet ‘black-out’ which cut off their services for a day and replaced them with a link to contact your local senator.

After a heated protest, Senator Smith decided to postpone endeavors to draft the bill. This was seen as a “win” for the Internet and the 7 million people that protested against one of what could have been the worst move on the government's part.

There Can Never be Enough Color on Your Wrists

By Tatiana Beckman

My wrists are never naked. Over the winter break I did some holiday shopping for myself and family and no matter where I went I was always distracted by bracelets. I love finding bracelets with pops of color and unique styles. When we find something unique, many of us say, “Oh, I can make that!” and walk away from the usually over-priced piece of jewelry. Although I have given in on a few things myself, I also stuck to my word and made some bracelets of my own. I bought string, links and clasps from AC Moore and searched for a little inspiration. I love the idea of mixing materials because it adds fun and sophistication into one accessory. You can wear all the pieces at once or layer them with a charm bracelet and watch. There is nothing boring about layering bracelets, rings or any jewelery, and every piece you buy and stylize will be unique. Just remember when you say you can make it, you really can, so stop spending $20 on friendship bracelets when a pack of string costs $4. 

Pin·ter·est·ing [Pin-ter-uh-sting, -truh-sting, -tuh-res-ting]

By Mary Dalton

Pinterest - Verb:

      Engaging or exciting and holding the attention or curiosity of users across the globe

2    Also, a great way to procrastinate besides Facebook.

It will only be a matter of time before Webster's  Dictionary acknowledges “pinteresting” as a verb. It may be hard to believe, but recall the shock when “bling bling” was added to the dictionary. I know that “pinteresting” has become a key form of distraction for many Design and Merchandising students.


But is it really a bad distraction? Pinterest is a virtual creative space that allows its users to express themselves and their interests - primarily through collections of images. Through the exchange of ideas and tips, it connects users with common interests all over the world. Students working on group projects are collecting their ideas in Pinterest (and then maybe spending just a little time browsing).


With Pinterest’s ever-changing pin boards it is no wonder why browsing this site is so addicting. Whether you create your own boards or just like to browse the site there is something for everyone. Ben Silbermann, co-founder of Pinterest, said that he “believes Pinterest fills a need on the Internet for people to express themselves. You don’t have to be witty, or a good photographer, or a good writer to use Pinterest, you just have to pin your interests to an online pinboard.”

It is hard to believe that this website has been up and running for two years now. The craze really started to take off only a few months ago. It was recently named one of the top 10 social media sites by Hitwise with 11 million views per week.

Big Stars. Backstage.

By Jillian Fragetti

Walking through the streets of New York City, thousands of men are walking around with dozens of roses, rushing to their apartments to leave them for their loved one. As they’re walking to the subway, I’m heading in the opposite direction. While most of the city’s concern was Valentine’s Day, mine was helping out BlackFrame Public Relations Agency prepare and set-up the Rodarte Fall 2012 Fashion Week fashion show. The night was spent working in the showroom and offices, organizing the supplies and business end of order. Nothing can run smoothly without a plan, but things were far less organized for a fashion week event than I had expected. We moved to the runway location at a big studio space around the corner and got to work. Rows and rows of hundreds of goodie bags were being laid out, filled with the nicest of cosmetics and accessories, while the construction men continued to build the set.

After hours of set-up, I headed home around midnight. As exhausted as I was, waking up at 6 am to get back to work in the city was expected. Everything had seemed so relaxed the previous day, as if everything was under control. All of that control vanished once we arrived that morning. Papers were flying, workers were running from location to location, and some seemed flustered like chickens without heads. Coffee was consumed by the gallon and demands were coming from every direction. To my surprise, about two hours before the show I was given the task of heading to Kinkos to print ALL of the programs for each seat of the show. I was surprised that no one thought to complete this days prior, but with the way fashion changes, what is written inside a program probably does too.

I think my biggest motivation to get the programs there on time was fueled by my guilty pleasure to see Kanye West and make sure he had a program waiting for him.

I had also volunteered to help dress the models in the dressing room. I had worked on numerous fashion shows on a smaller scale before but walking into a room full of the world’s top models, all with their own hair and makeup stations was so exciting. I knew I was in the presence of the greatest models, hair dressers, make-up artists, design team from Rodarte, and show production team. As overwhelmed as I had been on the inside, I tried to keep as calm as possible to make sure I got to the right place at the right time. Although I had gotten to the dressing room much later than the rest of the dressers, they decided I could handle the garments at the end of the rack. That consisted of the show stopping pieces at the close of the show, worn by Lindsey Wixson and Karlie Kloss.

Before Lindsey arrived, I watched as models carefully put on these couture garments. It blew my mind how smaller scale shows are always rushing to throw on and off garments to get models dressed quickly, but this show, as big and crazy as it was, took their time placing each arm into each sleeve, making sure nothing was out of place. If anything went wrong, a whole team from Rodarte was ready to work on the garment in any area to relieve the problem as quickly as possible. The same went for the perfection of the accessories, shoes, hair, and make-up.

When Lindsey Wixson, the fashion world’s “it” girl, finally arrived at her station, she was nothing short of adorable. At only 16, she quietly started to get ready and asked questions politely as possible. A Rodarte dresser and I carefully put her into a red sequined dress and coat with no problem at all and she was ready to go. Nothing about her gave the impression she wasn’t an average high school girl, not to mention the best of the best in world of traveling models. Some of the dressers (including myself) seemed more relaxed and accommodating to the famous models rather than starstruck. Not only is it more professional but it does not make the models feel awkward.

I also helped  Karlie Kloss’s dressing team to get her into her outfit because it didn’t slip on as easily as Lindsey’s. Eventually, everyone was dressed and - unlike a Drexel University fashion show - each girl had one outfit. 

Not a strand of hair was out of place, not a single girl was demanding or a diva, and every garment looked flawless. As they stood in line, I was able to look closely at the breathtaking dresses ready to head out to the runway. The details were magnificent, and everything was perfect. All the models were photographed by both photographers/journalists and the dressers. I was lucky enough to take great close up and far away pictures with my phone to get detail of the dresses and pictures of the beautiful models. As the girls stood in line waiting their time to shine, they all had serious model faces on, looking fierce for our pictures. The entire experience was amazing but my favorite moment was having Lindsey cheesing in happiness with the biggest smile on her face for my picture, while the rest of the girls kept on posing. Once every girl was dressed and ready all that was left was for her to walk the runway so, for us, our job was done. Working the Rodarte show continues to be my favorite fashion experience and I can’t wait to see what will top it. 

To see the venue, the looks, and some close-ups: 

http://www.nowfashion.com/15-02-2011-rodarte-ready-to-wear-fall-winter-2011-new-york-show-276.html

To see the full show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fN0IItG3OY