Blogging the News

Fabric enthusiast, Brooklyn girl, and six years of experience, Andrea Pitter is our November feature for Brooklyn Success of the month. An acronym for her birth name Andrea Tora Pitter, Pantora Bridal is birth to a successful business. The young African-American designer sits with such poise and grace. Her professionalism is displayed effortlessly. She’s what some may call an “old soul.”

As I sit in awe of several beautiful bridal gowns all hand-sewned by the designer, I cannot help but to notice intricate details that each lace, bead and crystal is stitched with. “You should be the elevated version of yourself,” Pitter tells us of every bride on their wedding day. Words of wisdom from the mature designer just flows continuously as she continues, “when you get married you are half of you and half of someone else. That person should elevate you. You elevate each other.”

PHOTOS: INSIDE THE BRIDAL SHOP

She humors us as she recalls moments of the brides fittings. they are often accompanied with their  bridesmaids and of course the mother-of-the-bride. “Moms try to pin [the dress], fluff the trains (she chuckles to herself) I just tell them relax, enjoy it.”

Every experience with her brides are different. The process begins with an appointment that includes a very detailed questionnaire. Information like budget, date, type of event, are all pertinent in Pitter designing the right style dress for the bride to be. then there’s the fitting. All appointments are by appointment only so that she can provide the ultimate experience. All curtains are closed so that no passerby’s are able to look into the storefront and distract the bride. It is a very intimate setting. Some brides cry and some are just completely thrown away by Pitter’s ability to capture their vision and make their dream dress into a reality.

Although the young designer says, she’s “not sure” where Pantora Bridal s going she’s “taking it all in stride,” she currently service brides locally and internationally. She’s faced countless moments of failure and advises any aspiring entrepreneur to “just start.”

Pitter likes her experiences with her brides. Brides “comeback and want anniversary dresses. They stop in to say hi.” “they are Pantora brides. they are family.”

They are Pantora Brides

To see more of Pantora Bridal by Andrea Pitter click here They are Pantora Brides and be just as thrown away as her brides.

I was born in Mielec, Poland. Although I moved to NYC at a very young age, I spent many summers in Poland. Throughout this time my extended family has given me hundreds of life tips. Have you seen the movie, My Big Fat Greek wedding? My family is like that, but Polish. Most of their advice frankly makes me burst into fits of laughter. My grandmothers life advice typically along the lines of “No man will marry a woman that doesn’t know how to make a Pierogi from scratch” often old fashioned and silly but I do wonder how much of it, I should actually take to heart. Below, is a list of the various beauty hacks I have picked up from my Polish family over the years.Some sound silly, some practical and some downright insane. Lucky for you, I have tested them all and seen results. Welcome to the Kozak family, below you will find my favorite tips:

Potato Face Masks
Potatoes are a staple in every Polish person’s diet. I shudder at the amount of starch I was fed as a child. My job as fourteen, aside from cleaning every inch of my bedroom until every surface was so spotless you could eat off of it, was to peel the potatoes for dinner. Once in a while, after I peeled the potatoes my mother would grab the skins and stick them on her face. I stared at her like she was a zoo animal and rolled my eyes every time she did this, fearing a friend would come over and discover my family’s strange Polish quirks. My mother says her own mother taught her this trick. It wasn’t until a few years later that I noticed how smooth my mother’s skin was. My own skin patchy and blemished at the time, I gave in and covered my face in potatoes. It felt ridiculous but, you know what? It works! This face mask is incredible for scarring, wrinkles and uneven skin tone. The best part? It’s cheap! The more frequently you use it, the better your results will be. Simply scrub a potatoes clean, peel them and place the strips on you face (fleshy whit park against the skin) for 30 minutes. You can also mash the skins into a paste beforehand I have done it both ways. I still do this every once in a while when my skin is just not looking as great as I’d like it. The results always surprise me. My grandmother and mother highly recommend it.

Spirulina in powder form.

Algae Water
Now stay with me, this one is a little strange. My grandfather has been drinking algae every day for as long as I can remember. In his seventies, he is one of the healthiest people I know, every morning at sunrise he wakes up and has a glass before doing his morning pushups. The man has never been severely ill, is a retired soldier, farmer and world traveler. He looks at least 15 years younger than his actual age. He even grows his own algae at home. The type of algae is called Spirulina and contains all of the amino acids that any body needs. It is also filled with protein. Recently the algae has become popular among green juice drinkers but I know it as, the strange green water my grandfather drinks. According to WebMD.com,
“Blue-green algae are used as a source of dietary protein, B-vitamins, and iron. They are also used for weight loss, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), hay fever, diabetes, stress, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and other women’s health issues. Some people use blue-green algae for treating precancerous growths inside the mouth, boosting the immune system, improving memory, increasing energy and metabolism, lowering cholesterol, preventing heart disease, healing wounds, and improving digestion and bowel health.”
I guess he was on to something all along! Spirulina is sold in health food stores and can be mixed into water or a smoothie and is considered a super food. Recently, I bought some of my own and added it into my daily routine as an ode to my grandfather. I like to mix it into a smoothie with a bannana, an apple, what ever berries I have on hand, spinach and ice. Yum!

Nivea
Throughout the years I have bought my mother a variety of face creams as birthday or Christmas. Her medicine cabinet is filled with glasses of jars of face cream. This is because, she absolutely refuses to stray away from her beloved Nivea. This little tin is her holy grail. It is an ultra thick white creme with a unique smell. The smell immediately brings me backs to childhood, as I used to love watching her apply her skincare products and makeup. She uses Nivea as a makeup remover, a face cream, a body lotion, a lip balm and a foot cream. You can always count of her to carry a tin of it in her purse and keep a jar on her night stand. Last year, I read this article, about a woman who tests this cream against infamously expensive Crème de La Mer, and the results were amazing. The ultra-cheap Nivea was the winner. I typically use the cream in the colder months and switch to the lighter version in the winter. I have read that Kate Winslet and Reese Witherspoon swear by this blue tin and I wonder if they apply it as religiously as my mother. I would recommend this creme to anyone with dry skin, when I apply this creme before bed I wake up looking as if I had 12 hours of sleep. My skin appears ultra plumped and baby smooth. What can I say? Mother knows best.

What sort of crazy beauty tips has your family recommended to you? Spill those family secrets!

I was born in Mielec, Poland. Although I moved to NYC at a very young age, I spent many summers in Poland. Throughout this time my extended family has given me hundreds of life tips. Have you seen the movie, My Big Fat Greek wedding? My family is like that, but Polish. Most of their advice frankly makes me burst into fits of laughter. My grandmothers life advice typically along the lines of “No man will marry a woman that doesn’t know how to make a Pierogi from scratch” often old fashioned and silly but I do wonder how much of it, I should actually take to heart. Below, is a list of the various beauty hacks I have picked up from my Polish family over the years.Some sound silly, some practical and some downright insane. Lucky for you, I have tested them all and seen results. Welcome to the Kozak family, below you will find my favorite tips:

Potato Face Masks
Potatoes are a staple in every Polish person’s diet. I shudder at the amount of starch I was fed as a child. My job as fourteen, aside from cleaning every inch of my bedroom until every surface was so spotless you could eat off of it, was to peel the potatoes for dinner. Once in a while, after I peeled the potatoes my mother would grab the skins and stick them on her face. I stared at her like she was a zoo animal and rolled my eyes every time she did this, fearing a friend would come over and discover my family’s strange Polish quirks. My mother says her own mother taught her this trick. It wasn’t until a few years later that I noticed how smooth my mother’s skin was. My own skin patchy and blemished at the time, I gave in and covered my face in potatoes. It felt ridiculous but, you know what? It works! This face mask is incredible for scarring, wrinkles and uneven skin tone. The best part? It’s cheap! The more frequently you use it, the better your results will be. Simply scrub a potatoes clean, peel them and place the strips on you face (fleshy whit park against the skin) for 30 minutes. You can also mash the skins into a paste beforehand I have done it both ways. I still do this every once in a while when my skin is just not looking as great as I’d like it. The results always surprise me. My grandmother and mother highly recommend it.

Algae Water
Now stay with me, this one is a little strange. My grandfather has been drinking algae every day for as long as I can remember. In his seventies, he is one of the healthiest people I know, every morning at sunrise he wakes up and has a glass before doing his morning pushups. The man has never been severely ill, is a retired soldier, farmer and world traveler. He looks at least 15 years younger than his actual age. He even grows his own algae at home. The type of algae is called Spirulina and contains all of the amino acids that any body needs. It is also filled with protein. Recently the algae has become popular among green juice drinkers but I know it as, the strange green water my grandfather drinks. According to WebMD.com,
“Blue-green algae are used as a source of dietary protein, B-vitamins, and iron. They are also used for weight loss, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), hay fever, diabetes, stress, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and other women’s health issues. Some people use blue-green algae for treating precancerous growths inside the mouth, boosting the immune system, improving memory, increasing energy and metabolism, lowering cholesterol, preventing heart disease, healing wounds, and improving digestion and bowel health.”
I guess he was on to something all along! Spirulina is sold in health food stores and can be mixed into water or a smoothie and is considered a super food. Recently, I bought some of my own and added it into my daily routine as an ode to my grandfather. I like to mix it into a smoothie with a bannana, an apple, what ever berries I have on hand, spinach and ice. Yum!

Nivea
Throughout the years I have bought my mother a variety of face creams as birthday or Christmas. Her medicine cabinet is filled with glasses of jars of face cream. This is because, she absolutely refuses to stray away from her beloved Nivea. This little tin is her holy grail. It is an ultra thick white creme with a unique smell. The smell immediately brings me backs to childhood, as I used to love watching her apply her skincare products and makeup. She uses Nivea as a makeup remover, a face cream, a body lotion, a lip balm and a foot cream. You can always count of her to carry a tin of it in her purse and keep a jar on her night stand. Last year, I read this article, about a woman who tests this cream against infamously expensive Crème de La Mer, and the results were amazing. The ultra-cheap Nivea was the winner. I typically use the cream in the colder months and switch to the lighter version in the winter. I have read that Kate Winslet and Reese Witherspoon swear by this blue tin and I wonder if they apply it as religiously as my mother. I would recommend this creme to anyone with dry skin, when I apply this creme before bed I wake up looking as if I had 12 hours of sleep. My skin appears ultra plumped and baby smooth. What can I say? Mother knows best.

What sort of crazy beauty tips has your family recommended to you? Spill those family secrets!

Mission Statement

My blog will be a fashion and beauty lifestyle blog. As this is a very broad topic, I have narrowed it down to a few specifics. For the fashion portion, my blog will include photos, advice articles, interviews targeted toward women in their twenties whom are in a similar place in their lives as I am. What I mean by this is I will write about fashion geared toward women in the early stages of their careers, ones that are transitioning from school to work life, ones that are interviewing for their first jobs or internships and ones that are on a limited budget. As for the beauty portion of my blog, I plan to include reviews of new makeup line launches, but I would also like to include a segment in which I review products from NYC based small brands. I would also like to interview experts in the field about trends and tips for the current season. As for the lifestyle portion I would love to write about my personal experiences with internships, working in PR for beauty brands, my search for my first job, my experience searching for my first apartment, tips etc.

The internet, is already saturated with fashion blogs, but I believe what sets mine apart is the target audience. My blog will not feature clothing items that are dramatically out of the price range for twenty-something year old women, as many do. However, I also plan on writing about career advice. I would love to learn as I go along and interview women and professionals that are more experienced than I am. My hope is that young women find my blog as a source for all things related to twenty-something life in New York City. The photos will be original, usually of me. It will include advice along with tips from someone experiencing all of the same life changes that most young women experience in their twenties. The blog will be heavily based on NYC life as I am experiencing these things in this city.

I was inspired by very many blogs that I read on a daily basis but the one that truly represents the niche blog that I am proposing is called KatiesBliss.com. This is a blog very similar to the one I plan to start. The blog posts are split into three main section. Beauty, Fashion and Life. This is what I plan to do as well. What I most enjoy about this blog is the very specific style. The blog feels informal, almost as if I am getting advice from a friend. The advice about life and career choices is also very real and not as formal as some I might read in a magazine. The clothing items posted are always age appropriate, well styled and always in the same style. The photos on the blog are clear, colorful and well edited. The format and design of the blog is clean, simplistic but also a bit feminine. This is exactly the look I would like my blog to have. I have found a few other blogs also written by girls working in PR on the subject of beauty, fashion and career advice but this one sticks out to me, because of the quality and voice.

What I hope makes my blog different from this one is features that she does not include. I have read many books of the subjects of public relations, starting a career as well as the beauty industry. I would love to write a few reviews on these books as well as summarize their main points. I would also like to include listicles, some examples might be “10 Items That Will Make a PR Girls Life Easier” or “How To Spot a PR Girl In The Wild”, “My favorite PR movies”, “My favorite PR girl twitter accounts” I would also like to profile makeup artists, small business owners working in PR, beauty and fashion. In an ideal world, I would include one post about career, one about beauty and one about fashion everyday or find a way to find all three or two out of three into one article every day.

As my blog is in the features category, it will not cover serious causes or events. The purpose is mainly to entertain. It is will also inform and provide a platform for discussion about the topics related to my posts. My other blog when it comes to this blog is to use it as a way to display my writing and learn how to become a better writer. I believe putting my work online, for all to see will inspire me to pay closer attention to my grammar, writing style and develop a personal voice. I am interested in a career in beauty product public relations, which involves plenty of writing. What better way to prove to my future employers that I am able to write about beauty and fashion than by being able to show proof of hundreds of posts? This will also showcase my interests in beauty brands.

Editorial Plan

Types of content

Frequency:
In an ideal world, I would post to my blog daily. 2-3 varied posts a day would be perfect. But, I am going to be realistic and shoot for 2x a week to begin.

Time:
I envision that it will take at least a few days to create one post. I have never blogged before but I imagine that taking photos, editing them, writing a post, editing it, gathering interviews and quotes does take at least a few days.

Post Ideas:
-How to get your first internship
-Mistakes twenty-something girls frequently make in the office
-What to wear to a PR job interview
-The perfect interview makeup look
-10 books every PR student should read
-Internship survival guide
-How to make fall fashion trends work appropriate

Interviews:
-Makeup artists
-PR Professionals
-PR Interns
-Fashion designers

Multimedia:
I plan on including original photos that I have taken, as well as YouTube video both original and unoriginal.

Social Media:
I would like to create social media accounts specifically dedicated to my blog. I would like to create an Instagram account, Twitter handle and Facebook account with the same username/handle as the name of my blog. I will use these accounts to supplement my blog posts.

Personally, I am a bit disappointed with the NYC theme that we must stick to! That being said, I have come up with two ideas that I feel combine my original blog idea as well as the class theme.

To get a better understanding of why I would like to blog on this topic, I would like to tell you a bit about myself. I am currently working in public relations as a intern, I work for a firm that specializes in beauty products. My firm works with a lot of beauty product bloggers. I took this course to get a better understanding of the people on the other side of the business. I was originally hoping to create a blog that focuses on in depth reviews of small, new and upcoming beauty products and brands.

My new idea, that incorporates NYC is to create a blog that specializes in promoting, reviewing and testing out small NYC based cosmetics brands. These would be brands that might only be sold online or in small NYC boutiques. It will focus on the small businesses, their stories, photographs that I have taken on their products, personal reviews of their products and interviews with people that work for the company. Maybe even interview with the owners of the company. I am also a corporate communication major, so learning about small businesses and start up cosmetics brands might be very educational.

I was also hoping on creating a personal style and fashion blog. Similar to that of “The Man Repeller”, I am aware that the internet is already flooded with those. But, then again a blog is not only meant for others to read but it is also just a way to have fun. If I end up working in fashion public relations this blog would be great to show a future employer. I have also taken various courses in fashion at the Arts Institute of NYC so I am able to talk about fashion in a technical way. I am not exactly sure how to turn this into a topic that will be relevant to this course. Perhaps instead of focusing on myself, I can focus on photographing and writing about girls in a similar age group. I would focus on girls in their early to mid twenties, whom are recent graduates, seniors in college, interns, or working entry level jobs and their individual styles. I could interview employers and brands about what they think appropriate interview outfits are or mistakes that young woman make in regard to dressing themselves for the workplace. etc. This idea needs some work!

Please leave comments and all suggestions are appreciated!

-Diana

In class on Monday, we discussed whether a carefully curated Twitter feed can be considered a blog. I’m not sure whether we reached a consensus, but certainly it is a valid question to address in the context of our class. I want to push that discussion one step further: Is a carefully curated SnapChat feed also a blog? Editors at SnapCchat are doing just that — offering up a “live” feed from New York Fashion Week. The New York Observer has an interesting piece about this effort, saying it feels a lot fresher and more relevant than #fashionweek feed over at Instagram. Here’s an excerpt that explains what Snapchat is doing:

So what’s a live story on Snapchat? The startup did the same thing for Electric Daisy Carnival in April and the World Cup finals in July. Users could send their own videos and photos not only to their friends, but also to a team at Snapchat. Snapchat then curated the best media to be part of one massive Snapchat live story. It was pretty fun and effective, especially when the World Cup story showed revelers from around the world prepping for matches in Rio and cheering their teams on.

What I find interesting is that the Snapchat “live” feed requires editorial judgement by its employees and that it’s not just a hashtag that pulls in everything anyone is posting about a particular subject. That to me feels like some kind of journalism is at work.

NEW YORK blogs:

And for our discussion today on topics to blog about, I came across two that I thought were interesting that I want you to look at:

I Quant NY

and

The Christie Tracker