New York City 2019

This Spring Break I had the amazing opportunity of traveling all the way from Ames, Iowa to New York City for a field study trip. During this trip we were able to explore the city, while also learning so much about the fashion industry and getting to see possible future places to be employed like Hearst, Dolce & Gabbana, and Tommy Hilfiger, just to name a few. We were there for one week and got to visit two to three companies daily. This was an experience like no other.

Day 1: Travel Day

Our travel day started very bright and early and was exhausting. One photo was taken this day when we finally had the NYC filters on our social medias. It is not the most picture perfect photo, but we were excited! We had dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant called Piccola Cucina Osteria Siciliana. The pasta was to die for! After that we all drifted to sleep after our very long day.

Day 2: Free Day

Sunday was our first full day in the city and it was our free day! We woke up and got ready and headed down to SOHO for brunch at Poco Bar. It was a perfect Sunday New York City brunch. After devouring our food we headed to Brooklyn to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a beautiful sunny day. We then found ourselves in China Town where we took in all there was to see and ate amazing authentic Chinese food. That night we had dessert at Magnolia Bakery.

Day 3: NYC to JC

Day three was the first busy day of visiting businesses. We started our day at my dream company to work for, Hearst Publication. My dream is to work for a fashion publication, so coming to Hearst was really a dream come true. I was so excited to be able to visit a place that I can really see myself being in the future. We then headed to Jersey City to visit Komar Brands. After our day at these companies we went to visit the World Trade Center Memorial. It was a very emotional experience. It was crazy to be where such a tragic event occurred, but It felt good to be able to honor and remember all of the heroes that lost their lives that day. That night we went to Rosa Mexicano for dinner. The best part was that they made your guacamole right in front of you!

Day 4: Broadway

This morning we got to tour the Museum at FIT. It was amazing to see all of the designer and historical pieces that they had there. After that we went to MOOD Fabrics and got to see where all of the designers from Project Runway got their fabric for the show. The last company that we visited that day was Sequin Jewelry. They were so amazing to us there and gave us free jewelry and let us all make our own custom necklaces. That night we went to see Wicked on Broadway. This was the third time that I have seen the show and it is always as good as it was the very first time. Then we got pizza at B Side, and then made our way back to the hotel.

Day 5: Birthday Celebrations

This day was filled with company meetings. We went to Abasi Rosborough, Tommy Hilfiger, and Centric Brands. Centric Brands was a really fun place to visit because it was in the Empire State Building. After all of our visits we went shopping around to find outfits to wear for our friend’s birthday dinner. We celebrated her and then went back to the hotel for the night.

Day 6: Networking, Networking, Networking

On day 6 we visited Todd Snyder and American Eagle Outfitters. I really enjoyed to get to see these places because we really got to see a lot about the design processes at both of these places which was very cool. We shopped around places and went to Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, and to Barney’s all on 5th Avenue to see how they merchandise their stores. After this we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the alumni event that we had that night. This event was honestly a great experience. We got to hear from so many alums from Iowa State that are working in the fashion industry in New York City. It was very eye opening to see where our hard work, education, and determination can get us. I met so many great people and made connections.

Day 7: Parks and Museums

On Friday we visited Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana, and Hanes Brands. All of these places were so amazing to us and really let us see an inside look on what they get to do everyday. After all of our visits we walked through Central Park and then went to The Metropolitan Museum of Art and explored through there. It was so amazing. I could’ve spent hours and hours in The Met. After the museum closed we went to dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant on 2nd Avenue. We had an early night in because we knew we had a long travel day ahead of us in the morning.

As we left Saturday afternoon I had a sense of sadness for leaving this amazing city, but at the same time I have never felt more inspired and excited for what my future holds. I truly feel like this trip opened my eyes to where I want to be and the lifestyle that I want to have. I know that I will find my way back to this city sooner than later and that fuels my fire to work hard and hustle until I get there.

-Liv