Comments on: Do I NEED to go to Fashion School?

By: ahmed

ahmed — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:24:02 +0000

I really need to study fashion , its been my passion since I was 14 now I’m 22 please contact me , the best fashion college around the world & how can I fell applications and thnx
@Ahmed20yo…..on twitter

By: Lucky

Lucky — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:06:47 +0000

@ Amber

Well the best way to guage “pedigree” of your school is job placement rate.

Also if your school is “for profit” or you attend a place where your credits wont transfer to a state or private school that is nationaly credited. You have your answer.

By: Lucky

Lucky — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:01:02 +0000

Interesting…

I mean you dont NEED school. It’s like saying you need to get a degree to become an inventor….I mean there are plenty of brands that made their name by just getting lucky and demoing, exhibitions and what not….You dont need to, but if you have no contacts in the fashion world or know how on how to market yourself them i would choose school. Downside of fashion design career is your like a starving artist until you get discovered…so better hope you finish school wihtout debt….otherwise you put money into something that could of been invested into your marketing or getting your products out there…eeek

By: Lucky

Lucky — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:01:02 +0000

Interesting…

By: anjali

anjali — Mon, 10 May 2010 09:09:29 +0000

hi,i just went thru the articles but little confused …i hv finished my 12th n wanna pursue my in fashion designing n become a fashion designer ,but dont know how to start .i had taken up nift entrance test this year ,but couldnt get thru..now i dont know wat should i do whether to take up a normal degree like bbm or sumthing which will be backup for my future or to take up 3 yrs bachelors degree in fashion and apparel designing which will lead me merchandising which i dont wish to go for..
But want to pursue a proper degree in fashion designing like from nift or sumthing …
i’m really confused dont know wat will be ri8 n wat want…
please guide to wat to choose as soon as possible plz.if possible now itself

By: Midnight Cowgirl

Midnight Cowgirl — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 01:15:46 +0000

Very interesting article! I wanted to go to fashion school but got my bachelors instead. I think the most important thing to do is just get an education.

By: Amber

Amber — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:03:32 +0000

I really appreciated the responses of this blog. I do have one question though. Are degrees from online accredited schools taken seriously? I have been living overseas with my husband for the past three years and have been taking classes online at Westwood University which is an art school. I am working towards a bachelor’s degree in fashion merchandising. I am just nervous that once I obtain my degree I will not be a competivive candidate in this field. Any thoughts?

By: Ali-bell

Ali-bell — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:43:25 +0000

yes! I actually just did a post on this last week:
http://ali-bell.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-necessary-is-design-training.html
(I’m 3/4 of the way through a bachelor of design in fashion & textiles)

By: admins

admins — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:13:06 +0000

What thoughtful responses. At the end of the day, your educational decision is certainly a personal one, just like your career path. Stay tuned for a related post!

By: midwestfashionista

midwestfashionista — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:20:15 +0000

Such great advice! With all the competition out there, that college degree stands out! Also, as you so wisely stated, a degree is something that enriches your life, not just your career. Well done! Love this blog!

By: kielya

kielya — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:57:29 +0000

Great post! Although i would add that, graduating from an FIT type school isn’t 100% needed many do well just attending for a for a few years or doing an associate type program. Also have to disagree with Jennine, there are a ton more benefits to a college education than mentioned. also having minored and occasionally worked in graphic design you can’t compare it to fashion design. there are so many more skills needed for fashion, while many for graphic design can be learned on your own. plus fashion is way more competitive, especially here, than graphic design, so you need a leg up on the competition that much more.

By: dreamsequins

dreamsequins — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:03:17 +0000

I don’t think one should ever discount the value of higher education, even if it’s not “useful” to one’s career prospects. I feel like nowadays, people are so caught up in specialties and finding the right major that the best part of college: learning more about the world and about yourself, becoming exposed to people from different walks of life… become blurred by career ambitions. You have the rest of your life to think about your career track. Why not enjoy yourself in an enriching atmosphere? Your creativity will thank you for it.

By: jennine

jennine — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:28:00 +0000

Hmm…. I’m on the fence with this one… i didn’t work in fashion, but i did become a graphic designer without a degree… then out of insecurity, decided to go back to college, and now I’m $90,000 in student debt, and after graduation, i ended up getting similar jobs to BEFORE i got my degree…

I got all my jobs based on contacts… and having a professional looking portfolio. What did I learn in college? How to think for myself, how to self-initiate, and it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

Nowadays, I would be dammed if I had to go back to college just to learn how to do my job properly. I’d like to take a fashion journalism class, but……

If you can’t make a decent portfolio, don’t know anyone, can’t stand being around amazingly creative people due to insecurity, and can’t do anything by yourself…then yeah…going to college will help you in spades.

By: Stella

Stella — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:02:31 +0000

There are so many avenues to consider with fashion but this article is a must read for anyone considering becoming a designer. It’s much more than photoshoots and styling. Wish I read this before I got in the game.

http://www.dahlight.com/seamless-a-designers-journey/

By: WendyB

WendyB — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:16:33 +0000

Excellent advice. It’s true — who would waste time on the resume of someone who doesn’t have a college degree these days? And this applies to any field: “we don’t really care about GPA’s or school awards, we’d rather see strong skills” — in my corporate jobs, I pretty much tossed any resume that wasted time on trivial school stuff unless the person was a new graduate. And even then, it didn’t impress me.