Post #10 - Reflection Essay

On the very first day the quarter began I entered my Eng. 271 class thinking that the class would be another boring one out of many. In fact I had prepared my mind that the course will be a dry one. Then, after the exchange of introductions we were informed that the syllabus revolves around blog postings and online writing. At that moment I thought, “This is going to be one of the most interesting classes this quarter.” I was really happy to learn that we will be looking over something which is really common these days and most of the students need to learn about online writing and related stuff.

Our very first assignment about the Wikipedia article helped me a lot in knowing how people actually write online and how you can find the exact same information in so many sites. It’s not that I wasn’t aware of Wikipedia or anything, but I had never looked at it that way. In fact, until then I had used Wikipedia for research purposes that too pretty rarely because I had always thought of it as a less reliable source than others. In this class I learned a lot of new things about Wikipedia and how it works.

I am so not a news person. I don’t like watching news or reading newspapers which is the reason why I am least updated about current affairs.  Well, the assignments like rewriting the news and incorporating voice in expository writing turned out to be of great help. Not only did I learn about the tactics for writing news but also they made me look up for current news’s and issues. Some of the news’s were so surprising; like making clothes from milk, that I was glad we were assigned to do the ‘rewriting the news’ task. Also, integrating voice in expository gave me ideas on how a topic or article can totally take a new turn by incorporating voice. I also learned when and where one should use his /her own voice in order to make the article sound unbiased.

We also wrote definition essays, process essays, and classification essays. Those too I found pretty much useful as they were of a great help in improving the organization of writing. These essays also helped in transitioning well from one line/paragraph to another. Again, all three of them apart from improving my writing skills, increased my knowledge about certain things. The process essay benefited me in knowing how to incorporate a detailed process in your article and how can each step be explained well enough to the reader. Similarly, classification essay gave the idea on how to concentrate at just a few sub topics/categories of one wide or vast category.

The best thing about this class was the peer reviews on regular basis. I got to know the whole class and point of views of almost all of the students on my writing. In my opinion peer reviews are a must for a writing class because they help a lot in improving the writing skills. It can happen one might not come up with an idea or point which is a ‘must-have’ in your article, however your peer did. All the ideas and opinions from my peers helped me a lot in making my writing portfolio better. Also, one of the most important things that learnt towards the end of my class was about the visuals and how they can or cannot help in improving your text. I had always thought that incorporating pictures may help the reader understand better but never thought they might be a source of distraction too. This class helped me in understanding the proper usage of visuals; how much should be used in one article.

Overall, this class turned out to be really interesting. In each class I was able to learn something new which in turn helped me in improving my writing skills. I am glad that I got a chance to learn a whole lot about expository writing along with peer reviews on regular basis which eventually helped me thinking in a broader way and look into many aspects of a article than focusing on few.

Types of Fashion in Clothing

Fashion is something we deal with every day. Even people who say they don't care what they wear, they choose clothes every morning that say a lot about them and how they feel that day. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. A fashion usually remains popular for about 1-3 years and then is replaced by yet another fashion. Even though there are a lot of changes in fashion, most people do not easily accept the changes.

A clothing style may be introduced as a fashion, but its use becomes a custom after being handed down from generation to generation. Clothing is made out of all types of material such as cotton, rayon, spandex, and polyester, and they are just a few used. Some clothing may even be made of 2 or more different types. Fashion designers attempt to design clothes which are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. They must consider who is likely to wear a garment and the situations in which it will be worn. They have a wide range and combinations of materials to work with and a wide range of colors, patterns and styles to choose from. Though most clothing worn for everyday wear fall within a narrow range of conventional styles, the unique and trendy garments are usually sought for special occasions, such as evening wear or party dresses. The garments produced by clothing manufacturers fall into three main categories: Haute couture, Ready-to-wear, and Mass market.

Haute Couture - Wedding Dress

Haute couture (French for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking") refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Until the 1950s, fashion clothing was predominately designed and manufactured on a made-to-measure or haute couture basis with each garment being created for a specific client. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality and expensive fabric. It is sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. The made to measure exclusive clothes are virtually made by hand, carefully interlined, stay taped and fitted to perfection for each client. In addition the client would get a perfection of fit only achieved by painstaking methods of cutting and fitting to the client's body.  The manual labor needed to produce a garment this way takes between 100-150 hours for a suit and up to 1000 hours for an embellished evening dress.  The purchase of an haute couture model garment is at the top level of hand customized fashion design and clothing construction made by a couture design house.  A model haute couture garment is made specifically for the wearer's measurements and body stance.  A couture house like Chanel for example will have about 150 regular clients who buy couture and a house like Dior will make about 20 couture bridal gowns a year. When a customer decides to order an Haute Couture garment she needs to first make an appointment with the design house prior to any visit to Paris.  Model garments from collections are sometimes out of the country being presented elsewhere.  Some couture houses provide a video of the collection to serious purchasers.


Ready-to-wear
Relative to couture, ready-to-wear clothing is often more practical and informal. It is the term for factory-made clothing, sold in finished condition and in standardized sizes. Ready-to-wear clothes are a cross between haute couture and mass market. They are not made for individual customers, but great care is taken in the choice and cut of the fabric. Clothes are made in small quantities to guarantee exclusivity, so they are rather expensive. They use standard patterns, factory equipment, and faster construction techniques to keep costs low, compared to a custom-sewn version of the same item. The construction of ready-to-wear clothing is also held to different standard than that of haute couture due to its industrial nature. High-end ready-to-wear lines are sometimes based upon a famous gown or pattern that is then duplicated and advertised to raise the visibility of the designer. In high-end fashion, ready-to-wear collections are usually presented by fashion houses each season during a period known as Fashion Week. This event takes place on a city-wide basis and are held twice a year- the Fall/Winter shows take place in February, whilst Spring/Summer collections are shown in September.

The mass market is a general business term describing the largest group of consumers for a specified industry product. The mass market is the group of consumers who occupy the overwhelming mass of a bell curve for fashion trend/ clothing, i.e. they could be tagged as being average. T this group consists of such a wide variety of people; their desires towards a certain product may be totally different from each other. Often competition to supply the large market is fierce, but relatively easy to enter because of the mass amount of customer base available. Some consumers are concerned with quality, some with classic design, some with price and some with all of the above. Mass merchants try to appeal to the masses (the majority), and the fashion boutiques attempt to appeal to the taste level of the fringe. The specialty shops in mass market are typically smaller scale and have the ability to focus on the specific needs of each individual shopper.

Mass Market Fashion - Gap

Mass merchants are faced with the ever changing fashion landscape. Fashion trends seem to go out of fashion very often. Therefore, it is challenging for a fashion boutique or a mass merchant to maintain stock levels of the most current fashion. Presently, the fashion industry relies more on mass market sales. The mass market caters for a wide range of customers, producing ready-to-wear clothes in large quantities and standard sizes. Inexpensive materials, creatively used, produce affordable fashion. Mass market designers generally adapt the trends set by the famous names in fashion. They often wait around a season to make sure a style is going to catch on before producing their own versions of the original look. In order to save money and time, they use cheaper fabrics and simpler production techniques which can easily be done by machine. The end product can therefore be sold much more cheaply.

Thus, Fashion designers conceive garment combinations of line, proportion, color, and texture to come up with the particular type of clothing they are interested in making. They work with the design team and the factories overseas to ensure correct garment construction, make appropriate fabric choices and a good fit. The technical designer fits the garment samples on a fit model, and decides which fit and construction changes to make before mass producing the garment.
 
Sources:
http://www.wikipedia.com
http://textilesindepth-fashiondesigning.blogspot.com/2011/09/types-of-fashion-design.html

Types of Fashion Design in Clothing

Fashion is something we deal with every day. Even people who say they don't care what they wear, they choose clothes every morning that say a lot about them and how they feel that day. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. A fashion usually remains popular for about 1-3 years and then is replaced by yet another fashion. Even though there are a lot of changes in fashion, most people do not easily accept the changes.

A clothing style may be introduced as a fashion, but its use becomes a custom after being handed down from generation to generation. Clothing is made out of all types of material such as cotton, rayon, spandex, and polyester, and they are just a few used. Some clothing may even be made of 2 or more different types.   

Fashion designers attempt to design clothes which are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. They must consider who is likely to wear a garment and the situations in which it will be worn. They have a wide range and combinations of materials to work with and a wide range of colors, patterns and styles to choose from. Though most clothing worn for everyday wear fall within a narrow range of conventional styles, the  unique and trendy garments are usually sought for special occasions, such as evening wear or party dresses.  The garments produced by clothing manufacturers fall into three main categories: Haute couture, Ready-to-wear, and Mass market.

Haute couture (French for "high sewing" or "high dressmaking") refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Until the 1950s, fashion clothing was predominately designed and manufactured on a made-to-measure or haute couture basis with each garment being created for a specific client. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality and expensive fabric. It is sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. The made to measure exclusive clothes are virtually made by hand, carefully interlined, stay taped and fitted to perfection for each client. In addition the client would get a perfection of fit only achieved by painstaking methods of cutting and fitting to the client's body.  The manual labor needed to produce a garment this way takes between 100-150 hours for a suit and up to 1000 hours for an embellished evening dress.  The purchase of an haute couture model garment is at the top level of hand customized fashion design and clothing construction made by a couture design house.  A model haute couture garment is made specifically for the wearer's measurements and body stance.  A couture house like Chanel for example will have about 150 regular clients who buy couture and a house like Dior will make about 20 couture bridal gowns a year. When a customer decides to order a Haute Couture garment she needs to first make an appointment with the design house prior to any visit to Paris.  Model garments from collections are sometimes out of the country being presented elsewhere.  Some couture houses provide a video of the collection to serious purchasers. 

Ready-to-wear

Relative to couture, ready-to-wear clothing is often more practical and informal. It is the term for factory-made clothing, sold in finished condition and in standardized sizes. Ready-to-wear clothes are a cross between haute couture and mass market. They are not made for individual customers, but great care is taken in the choice and cut of the fabric. Clothes are made in small quantities to guarantee exclusivity, so they are rather expensive. They use standard patterns, factory equipment, and faster construction techniques to keep costs low, compared to a custom-sewn version of the same item. The construction of ready-to-wear clothing is also held to different standard than that of haute couture due to its industrial nature. High-end ready-to-wear lines are sometimes based upon a famous gown or pattern that is then duplicated and advertised to raise the visibility of the designer. In high-end fashion, ready-to-wear collections are usually presented by fashion houses each season during a period known as Fashion Week. This event takes place on a city-wide basis and are held twice a year- the Fall/Winter shows take place in February, whilst Spring/Summer collections are shown in September.

The mass market is a general business term describing the largest group of consumers for a specified industry product. The mass market is the group of consumers who occupy the overwhelming mass of a bell curve for fashion trend/ clothing, i.e. they could be tagged as being average. T this group consists of such a wide variety of people; their desires towards a certain product may be totally different from each other. Often competition to supply the large market is fierce, but relatively easy to enter because of the mass amount of customer base available. Some consumers are concerned with quality, some with classic design, some with price and some with all of the above.  Mass merchants try to appeal to the masses (the majority), and the fashion boutiques attempt to appeal to the taste level of the fringe.  The specialty shops in mass market are typically smaller scale and have the ability to focus on the specific needs of each individual shopper.  Mass merchants are faced with the ever changing fashion landscape. Fashion trends seem to go out of fashion very often.  Therefore, it is challenging for a fashion boutique or a mass merchant to maintain stock levels of the most current fashion.  Presently, the fashion industry relies more on mass market sales. The mass market caters for a wide range of customers, producing ready-to-wear clothes in large quantities and standard sizes. Inexpensive materials, creatively used, produce affordable fashion. Mass market designers generally adapt the trends set by the famous names in fashion. They often wait around a season to make sure a style is going to catch on before producing their own versions of the original look. In order to save money and time, they use cheaper fabrics and simpler production techniques which can easily be done by machine. The end product can therefore be sold much more cheaply.

Thus, Fashion designers conceive garment combinations of line, proportion, color, and texture to come up with the particular type of clothing they are interested in making. They work with the design team and the factories overseas to ensure correct garment construction, make appropriate fabric choices and a good fit. The technical designer fits the garment samples on a fit model, and decides which fit and construction changes to make before mass producing the garment.

Sources:

www.wikipedia.com

http://textilesindepth-fashiondesigning.blogspot.com/2011/09/types-of-fashion-design.html

Process Essay - Buying a House (UPDATED)

The specific way you progress through a home buying transaction varies depending on the real estate laws and customs where you live, but there are many home buying processes that are standard, even though they might not be accomplished in the same order in every location. Let's take a look at one of the many processes of a buying a house.

Decide to Buy:  The decision to purchase your first home is one of the biggest. After all, a home is the largest investment most people will ever make. You must know when the right time to buy is. There is never a wrong time to buy the right home. The key is finding a good buy and taking the time to carefully evaluate your finances.

Get your Finances in Order: Your credit reports are an ongoing look at how you manage your finances. You must know exactly what your credit reports say about your financial history before you apply for a mortgage, because the reports play an important role in the mortgage approval process and in determining the interest rate and other loan terms that a lender offers you.

Get a Realtor: Real estate agents represent buyers, sellers, or both. It's essential to understand agent duties and loyalties before you hire them. A real estate agent would educate you about the current conditions of the market, guide you to homes that fit your criteria, negotiate with the seller on your behalf, check and double-check paperwork and deadline, and solve any problems that may arise.

Secure Financing: Ultimately, your lender will per-approve you for a certain amount, but YOU will decide what you're comfortable paying every month. It's up to you to decide how much you're willing to stretch your budget in order to get into your dream home. For the same purpose you must choose a loan officer and make a loan application; get approved. Then, determine what you want to pay and select a loan option. Submit to the lender an accepted purchase offer contract.

Find a house of your choice: Now it’s time to find a house. There are a lot of homes out there and diving in without a guide can become overwhelming and confusing. A great agent will help you more accurately pinpoint homes that fit your criteria. The right home will meet all your important needs, and as many of your additional wants as possible. Now, while selecting the right home you may want to consider the location, size, neighborhood and last but not the least distance to the commercial area. Your priorities will probably adjust along the way.

Make an offer: The three basic components of your purchase offer are price, terms and contingencies. Price is the dollar amount you are approved for, willing and able to pay. Terms cover the other financial and timing factors that will be included in the offer. Contingencies are clauses that let you out of the deal if the house has a problem that didn't exist or which you weren't aware of when you went under contract. Wait for a reply; if you have bid lower than the asking price, expect a counter offer higher than your bid. This can go a few rounds until you settle on a price.

Get a home Inspection: Once your offer is accepted you need to do the inspection of the property. This can be done by hiring home inspectors. With the help of inspection you'll know what you are getting into before you sign closing papers. Your main concern is the possibility of structural damage like water damage, shifting ground etc. If a big problem shows up in your inspection report, bring in a specialist. Even if your home passes inspection, you still need to buy a home owner's insurance policy that protects you against loss or damage to the property.

Closing: Once you have completed the inspection process, it’s time for closing! Closing includes: keeping in touch with your agent and lender, returning all phone calls and completing paperwork promptly. Also, you need to communicate with your agent at least once or twice a week and verify with your lender that all mortgage funding steps are completed. Conducting a final walk-through of the home with your agent, confirming with your agent and lender that you have the settlement statement and certified funds prior to closing. Transactions generally close within 30 to 60 days after your offer has been accepted.

Protect your Investment: You've done it. You've looked at properties, made an offer, obtained financing and gone to closing. The home is yours. Those papers you received at settlement are extremely valuable, so hold on to them! In the short-term they can help establish tax deductions for the year in which the property was purchased.

Moving- In: You are all set to move in now. It is generally understood that sellers will leave homes broom clean when moving out. This expression does not mean vacuumed or spotless. Hire the cleaners to do a detailed cleaning once again before you move in. You can do the same yourself too. Once the house is neat and clean, hire the movers or rent a U-Haul to move your stuff in.  Lastly, enjoy your home. Owning real estate involves contracts, loans, and taxes, but ultimately what's most important is that home ownership should be a wonderful experience. Enjoy!


Sources:

http://homebuying.about.com/od/buyingahome/qt/0307Buyinghome.htm

http://homebuying.about.com/od/buyingahome/qt/121907_buy-path.htm

Process Essay - Buying a House

The specific way you progress through a home buying transaction varies depending on the real estate laws and customs where you live, but there are many home buying processes that are standard, even though they might not be accomplished in the same order in every location.

Decide to Buy:  The decision to purchase your first home is one of the biggest. After all, a home is the largest investment most people will ever make. You must know when the right time to buy is. There is never a wrong time to buy the right home. The key is finding a good buy and taking the time to carefully evaluate your finances.

Get your Finances in Order: Your credit reports are an ongoing look at how you manage your finances. You must know exactly what your credit reports say about your financial history before you apply for a mortgage, because the reports play an important role in the mortgage approval process and in determining the interest rate and other loan terms that a lender offers you.

Get a Realtor: Real estate agents represent buyers, sellers, or both. It's essential to understand agent duties and loyalties before you hire them. A real estate agent would educate you about the current conditions of the market, guide you to homes that fit your criteria, negotiate with the seller on your behalf, check and double-check paperwork and deadline, and solve any problems that may arise.

Secure Financing: Ultimately, your lender will per-approve you for a certain amount, but YOU will decide what you're comfortable paying every month. It's up to you to decide how much you're willing to stretch your budget in order to get into your dream home. For the same purpose you must choose a loan officer and make a loan application; get approved. Then, determine what you want to pay and select a loan option. Submit to the lender an accepted purchase offer contract.

Find a house of your choice: Now it’s time to find a house. There are a lot of homes out there and diving in without a guide can become overwhelming and confusing. A great agent will help you more accurately pinpoint homes that fit your criteria. The right home will meet all your important needs, and as many of your additional wants as possible. Now, while selecting the right home you may want to consider the location, size, neighborhood and last but not the least distance to the commercial area. Your priorities will probably adjust along the way.

Make an offer: The three basic components of your purchase offer are price, terms and contingencies. Price is the dollar amount you are approved for, willing and able to pay. Terms cover the other financial and timing factors that will be included in the offer. Contingencies are clauses that let you out of the deal if the house has a problem that didn't exist or which you weren't aware of when you went under contract. Wait for a reply; if you have bid lower than the asking price, expect a counter offer higher than your bid. This can go a few rounds until you settle on a price.

Get a home Inspection: Once, your offer is accepted you need to do the inspection of the property. This can be done by hiring home inspectors. With the help of inspection you'll know what you are getting into before you sign closing papers. Your main concern is the possibility of structural damage like water damage, shifting ground etc. If a big problem shows up in your inspection report, bring in a specialist. Even if your home passes inspection, you still need to buy a home owner's insurance policy that protects you against loss or damage to the property.

Closing: Once you have completed the inspection process, it’s time for closing! Closing includes: keeping in touch with your agent and lender, returning all phone calls and completing paperwork promptly, communicating with your agent at least once or twice a week, and verifying with your lender that all mortgage funding steps are completed, conducting a final walk-through of the home with your agent, confirming with your agent and lender that you have the settlement statement, certified funds, and evidence of insurance lined up prior to closing. Transactions generally close within 30 to 60 days after your offer has been accepted.

Protect your Investment: You've done it. You've looked at properties, made an offer, obtained financing and gone to closing. The home is yours. Those papers you received at settlement are extremely valuable, so hold on to them! In the short-term they can help establish tax deductions for the year in which the property was purchased.

Moving- In: You are all set to move in now. It is generally understood that sellers will leave homes broom clean when moving out. This expression does not mean vacuumed or spotless. Hire the cleaners to do a detailed cleaning once again before you move in. You can do the same yourself too. Once the house is neat and clean, hire the movers or rent a U-Haul to move your stuff in.  Lastly, enjoy your home. Owning real estate involves contracts, loans, and taxes, but ultimately what's most important is that home ownership should be a wonderful experience. Enjoy!

Multiple Personality

Personality is the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral response patterns of an individual. The word ‘personality’ has many definitions. Most people would define ‘personality’ as an individual’s character, or what makes one unique, consisting of a set of characteristics known as traits. “The visible aspect of one's character as it impresses others. The sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual or the organized pattern of behavioral characteristics of the individual” – Dictionary.com.

It has been a long controversy about how nature and nurture imply to personality traits and human behavior. Nature means that genetic factor and the system of organs control the personality, while nurture means the personality is a result of conditioned circumstances where a person is brought up. Recent studies find more in human biological system that genes are related to people’s behavior. Many researchers believe that genetics factors determine how someone will act and think in his or her life. From the moment a person is born, his or her personality begins to take shape. In infancy, childhood, and later adolescence, the individual explores a multitude of behaviors. Of all the behaviors, or personalities, the person experiences, one of them will stick with them until the day they die.

Unfortunately, each specific personality also contains a personality disorder. Personality disorders can result in anxiety attacks, depression, and to a certain level, suicide. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), also known as multiple or split personality (MPD), is one of them. “A rare disorder in which an individual displays several functionally dissociated personalities, each of a complexity comparable to that of a normal individual” – Dictionary.com.

A woman developed multiple personalities as the result of being abused as a child. She took on a range of personalities to escape the trauma. She had been abused by her father and grandfather during her childhood, starting with physical assaults by her dad when she was just a baby. The mother-of-two began developing imaginary people aged between two to 34 to bear the brunt of the abuse. This psychological malady, known as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) Dissociative Identity Disorder. Multiple personality disorder, or dissociative personality disorder, is a dissociative disorder involving a disturbance of identity in which two or more separate and distinct personality states control the individual's behavior at different times. The different identities, referred to as alters, may exhibit differences in many areas, including speech, mannerisms, beliefs, and gender orientation. A person with MPD can have as many as a hundred or as few as two separate personalities. These different identities can resemble the normal personality of the person or they may take on that of a different age, sex, or race. Each alter can have its own posture, set of gestures, and hair-style, as well as a distinct way of dressing and talking. The cause of this disorder is unknown; however, 97% of the patients with this disorder have been abused during childhood.

MPD occurs about eight times more frequently in women than in men. Some researchers believe that because men with MPD tend to act more violently than women, they are jailed rather than hospitalized and, thus, never diagnosed. Female MPD patients often have more identities than men, averaging fifteen as opposed to eight for males. Most people diagnosed with MPD were either physically or sexually abused as children. Many times when a young child is severely abused, he or she becomes so detached from reality that what is happening may seem more like a movie or television show than real life. Not all children who are severely and repeatedly abused develop multiple personality disorder. However, if the abuse is repeatedly extreme and the child does not have enough time to recover emotionally, the disassociated thoughts and feelings may begin to take on lives of their own. Each cluster of thoughts tends to have a common emotional theme such as anger, sadness, or fear. Eventually, these clusters develop into full-blown personalities; each with its own memory and characteristics.

MPD can be treated and in many cases people have managed to recover from split personality disorder with the help of various treatments. The goals of treatment for MPD are to relieve symptoms, to ensure the safety of the individual, and to "reconnect" the different identities into one well-functioning identity. Treatment also aims to help the person safely express and process painful memories, develop new coping and life skills, restore functioning, and improve relationships. The best treatment approach depends on the individual and the severity of his or her symptoms. Treatment for MPD consists mainly of psychotherapy with hypnosis, although medications are sometimes given to help the individual cope with insomnia, depression or anxiety. Other than that, MPD can be treated by medication, clinical hypnosis, art and music therapy etc.

Sources:

http://www.dictionary.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociative_identity_disorder

http://www.scienceclarified.com

Oprah’s Channel - Updated

Few days back while I was browsing through the entertainment news on Google, my eyes caught a news article about a channel named OWN probably an acronym for Oprah Winfrey network. The first thing that came to my mind after reading the headline was how? When? Why? I am not really a news person and therefore find myself usually unaware of the current happenings. I am not a religious follower of Oprah’s shows but I used to watch them sometimes. Therefore I was curious to know about all the hype going on about her channel. I started looking through the articles related to the same and came across many interesting ones. Some telling about the popularity of the channel and some critiquing over the low number of viewers.

Oprah Winfrey’s syndicated talk show ended on 25th May 2011. Her last show was filled with tears and pride. She walked out on a stage for the last time to a standing ovation from an audience filled with friends and family, including her longtime boyfriend Stedman Graham. "There are no words to match this moment," said Winfrey, clad in a pink dress with ruffles cascading down the front. She told the audience that that day she would not be giving away cars nor were there any trinkets hidden under their seats. Instead, Winfrey used her final show, the 4,561st, to thank the audience that made her show the No.1 talk show for its entire 25-year run. Her last show wasn’t the end of her success, in fact it was a beginning to a whole new series of adventures; the OWN channel!

The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), named after talk-show presenter Oprah Winfrey, is an American specialty channel produced by Harpo Productions and Discovery Communications. It is said to be a replacement of the former Discovery Health Channel. OWN is not a one man show channel. In fact it’s like all the other channels where various shows are run by various people like strips, special programs, original documentaries, and acquired movies.
According to discovery communications “OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK is the network of self-discovery, connecting people to each other and to their greatest potential. We tell real-life stories that are emotional and entertaining. We present moments of transformation that inspire action. We give you the tools to fuel your own self-discovery and live your best life. On OWN, it's not about what's next on TV, it's about what's next for you.” The network insists that it is on a long journey toward building a network around Winfrey's approach to programming.

In the case of ratings it's still so far, not so good. From July through October, the network averaged 116,000 viewers throughout the day, down from Discovery Health's daily average of 147,000. OWN was also down from Discovery Health in primetime, and more disturbingly among women 25 to 54, its target demographic.
It's not a surprise that OWN isn't attracting as many men as Discovery Health, but the fact that it's still not attracting as many women is a big problem. The critiques said that OWN low ratings would almost certainly cause Oprah to bring a daily talk show like her recently finished syndicated show to OWN. As a result she planned to host a few shows on her channel. “Oprah’s Lifeclass” is one the show hosted by her. Episodes of that series are also being reshown on OWN. And the best of them reveal all too clearly that her success didn’t spring solely from the New Age-y self-improvement lessons, but from Ms. Winfrey’s spirited interactions with guests and audiences.

Oprah wasn’t always so spiritually “mindful.” A lot of the time she was irreverent, bold and even at times shocking. Winfrey is working hard to make herself more visible, not only hosting "Lifeclass" this week but taking part in online chats with fans each night after it airs. She'll also begin her next talk show, "Oprah's Next Chapter," in January.Winfrey has committed to appearing in a minimum of 70-hours per year on the network. "Fifteen years ago, I wrote in my journal that one day I would create a television network, as I always felt my show was just the beginning of what the future could hold. For me, the launch of OWN is the evolution of the work I've been doing on television all these years and a natural extension of my show", said Oprah.

Oprah’s Channel

Few days back while I was browsing through the entertainment news on Google, my eyes caught a news article about a channel named OWN probably an acronym for Oprah Winfrey network. The first thing that came to my mind after reading the headline was how? When? Why? I am not really a news person and therefore find myself usually unaware of the current happenings. I am not a religious follower of Oprah’s shows but I used to watch them sometimes. Therefore I was curious to know about all the hype going on about her channel. I started looking through the articles related to the same and came across many interesting ones. Some telling about the popularity of the channel and some critiquing over the low number of viewers.
Oprah Winfrey’s syndicated talk show ended on 25th May 2011. Her last show was filled with tears and pride. She walked out on a stage for the last time to a standing ovation from an audience filled with friends and family, including her longtime boyfriend Stedman Graham. "There are no words to match this moment," said Winfrey, clad in a pink dress with ruffles cascading down the front. She told the audience that that day she would not be giving away cars nor were there any trinkets hidden under their seats. Instead, Winfrey used her final show, the 4,561st, to thank the audience that made her show the No.1 talk show for its entire 25-year run. Her last show wasn’t the end of her success, in fact it was a beginning to a whole new series of adventures; the OWN channel!
The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), named after talk-show presenter Oprah Winfrey, is an American specialty channel produced by Harpo Productions and Discovery Communications. It is said to be a replacement of the former Discovery Health Channel. OWN is not a one man show channel. In fact it’s like all the other channels where various shows are run by various people like strips, special programs, original documentaries, and acquired movies. According to discovery communications “OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK is the network of self-discovery, connecting people to each other and to their greatest potential. We tell real-life stories that are emotional and entertaining. We present moments of transformation that inspire action. We give you the tools to fuel your own self-discovery and live your best life. On OWN, it's not about what's next on TV, it's about what's next for you.” The network insists that it is on a long journey toward building a network around Winfrey's approach to programming. Oprah’s new channel’s executive members include:

• Oprah Winfrey - Chairman, CEO, and Chief Creative Officer
• Sheri Salata - President
• Erik Logan - President
• John MacDonald - Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
• Lisa Erspamer - Executive Vice President, Production & Development

In the case of ratings it's still so far, not so good. From July through October, the network averaged 116,000 viewers throughout the day, down from Discovery Health's daily average of 147,000. OWN was also down from Discovery Health in primetime, and more disturbingly among women 25 to 54, its target demographic.
Here are the comparisons across all the adult viewership demos between OWN in 3rd Quarter (July-Sept), 2011 vs. Discovery Health in 3rd Quarter, 2010.

• Total Day Avg. viewership: Down 20%
• Total Day Women 18-34 viewership: Down 32%
• Total Day Women 18-49 viewership: Down 24%
• Total Day Women 25-54 viewership: Down 15% (likely the ad target demo for OWN)
• Total Day Adults 18-49 viewership: Down 25%

It's not a surprise that OWN isn't attracting as many men as Discovery Health, but the fact that it's still not attracting as many women is a big problem. The critiques said that OWN low ratings would almost certainly cause Oprah to bring a daily talk show like her recently finished syndicated show to OWN. As a result she planned to host a few shows on her channel. “Oprah’s Lifeclass” is one the show hosted by her. Episodes of that series are also being reshown on OWN. And the best of them reveal all too clearly that her success didn’t spring solely from the New Age-y self-improvement lessons, but from Ms. Winfrey’s spirited interactions with guests and audiences. She wasn’t always so spiritually “mindful.” A lot of the time she was irreverent, bold and even at times shocking. Winfrey is working hard to make herself more visible, not only hosting "Lifeclass" this week but taking part in online chats with fans each night after it airs. She'll also begin her next talk show, "Oprah's Next Chapter," in January.Winfrey has committed to appearing in a minimum of 70-hours per year on the network. "Fifteen years ago, I wrote in my journal that one day I would create a television network, as I always felt my show was just the beginning of what the future could hold.  For me, the launch of OWN is the evolution of the work I've been doing on television all these years and a natural extension of my show", said Oprah.

Milk: A New Fashion Trend!

BERLIN — Reuters (Oct 07 2011) “A young fashion designer from the German city of Hanover is revolutionizing high fashion by designing clothes with a staple she can find in her fridge —milk.”



About the Fabric

Anke Domaske has recently developed a fabric called QMilch made from high concentrations of the milk protein casein-- the first man-made fiber produced entirely without chemicals.

The clothes feature soft and sensuous lines and basic colors. The elegant draperies are made using milk fiber which is turned into thread in a laboratory close to Bremen. Made from all natural materials, the QMilch fabric is not only ecological but is also enriched with many health benefits. Domaske said that the amino acids in the protein are antibacterial, anti-aging and can help regulate both blood circulation and body temperature. The fabric falls wonderfully, and it’s cheaper than silk. Milk fabric is made of protein so you can wash it normally, and it’s really easy to care for. “It feels like silk and it doesn’t smell — you can wash it just like anything else,” Domaske told.

Who Designed it?

Anke Domaske, 28, learned to make clothes as a child, from her great grandmother- who was a milliner. She had a passion for science too and even won a contest for up-and-coming scientists, in her teenage. After she finished school she went to Tokyo, Japan, where she sold t-shirts designed by her. On her return home she began studying microbiology and set-up her own fashion label on the side. In short, she managed to balance her two greatest interests and the results turned out to be astonishing. This German-born designer did a great job in balancing between her passion for fashion and her love for science. She decided to study microbiology and also pursued a career in fashion design.

Process Involved
The fabric making process is a lot more environment-friendly and considerably cheaper. The casein is extracted from dried milk powder and then heated up in a type of meat-mincing machine with other natural ingredients. The fiber comes out in strands and is then spun into yarn on a spinning machine. The good thing is that the fibers are extracted from substandard milk that is usually thrown away. So, the substandard milk is used to create a milk yarn fabric, manufactured without the use of any pesticides or chemicals.

 Discovery of Milk fiber:

The upcoming designer, Anke Domaske, realized that there’s more to milk than meets the eye. Since, she’s always had a thing for science, she and her team spent years experimenting with the milk turning it into eco-thread. They came up with a special mixture containing a protein derived from sour milk, which is processed in a lab, near the German city of Bremen. It is heated up and pressed through a kind of mincing machine to create the threads.

“We have developed an all-natural fiber consisting of a very high concentration of casein, with a few other natural ingredients — and in only two years,” the former microbiology student Domaske said.

Model Britta poses for the dresses made from Milk.

Anke Domaske’s Collection:

Until she reached the ideal combination of all her passions: she has presented a capsule collection within her Mademoiselle Chi Chi line, much-coveted by Hollywood stars such as Mischa Barton and Ashlee Simpson. Domaske’s fashion label Mademoiselle Chi Chi has now started weaving the milk fiber into its collection. Currently, the MCC clothes featuring flowing wrap dresses with edgy cuts and bright patterns are made from a combination of various fibers, including QMilch. It’s been heard that Domaske also plans to design a collection made entirely from the milk fiber. According to Domaske, it takes about 6 liters (1.5 gallons) of milk to produce an entire dress. Those interested in her designs should be prepared to pay up to US $270 (€200).  AS the reporter says, “Luckily, for that kind of money, the clothes don't come with an expiry date -- during the heating process, the molecules bind in such a way that the protein won't decompose.”  Anke Domaske’s revolutionary milk fiber fashion is going on show this summer, and she’s already received inquiries from all over the world. Next she plans to work on a men’s line.


Source of Information:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/06/us-germany-fashion-milk-idUSTRE7953MG20111006
http://www.psfk.com/2011/07/clothes-made-from-sour-milk-video.html