What to wear to your business school interview

I recently sat down with Earl Raehsler to get some practical advice for prospective students who have made it to the next phase of the admissions process. Earl is the Assistant Director of Admissions for the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, so this advice is coming straight from the source! He’s shared some sound advice on how to prepare for your big interview at the GSM, which I have summarized for you here.

Before I dive in to specifics about wardrobe, however, I thought I’d share an extremely important piece of insight I got from Earl – if you take anything away from this blog post, it should be this: the admissions team is looking first and foremost for candidates who can tell their story in an engaging and authentic manner. Ultimately, Earl and his team are looking at the person you will become two years down the road if you are accepted. They are evaluating you today, but also what you will look like to job recruiters when you graduate. Savvy candidates will keep this in mind every step of the way!

And now, on to the fashion! Read on to learn specific tips that came up in our conversation.

Job interview outfits can be fun!

I'm going on a visit to the headquarters of one of my favorite online retailers next week and I have to say it's been pretty fun trying to figure out what to wear. Those of you that have been reading my blog since the beginning might remember how tortured I used to be about getting dressed for job interviews, business school events and business life in general. I had this strange notion going into business school that I would be forced to conform to the kind of corporate culture that I'm allergic to. Since then I've realized that is not the case at all!

I should say this is mostly due to the fact that I'm interested in fashion and other creative industries, where wearing a suit is not required. In fact, at many companies, particularly in the tech world, showing up wearing a suit will actually make the WRONG impression. The career website at Amazon actually states "A suit and tie won't impress anyone here." So, yeah, I'm not exactly trying to work on Wall Street. But I think there is definitely a bit more leeway in how people dress in general for job interviews and professional life than there used to be. And that makes me happy!

Anyway, that was the impetus for this post. The photos in the collage above are all from Stockholm Street Style. I think these looks are polished and interesting. They have character, which I find to be the best part of dressing for any occasion. 

xoChr


Images via here. 

Valentino Fall 2014

This is probably the last collection I'll share from the Fall 2014 fashion month presentations. There are so many more that I loved but there's just no time (and this post is already soooo fashionably late as it is!).

You might have noticed a few more capes on this runway as well! What I love most, however, is the way this collection transitions. The looks at the beginning bear almost no resemblance to the gowns at the end, or even some of the other looks in the middle. But they are all very much the same woman. There's definitely a 70's influence threading its way throughout.

Okay, back to homework... until next time!

xoChr

all images via vogue.com

Adventures in Digital Marketing: Nike+ FuelBand Infographic

My friends Julia, Rachel and I are all taking a course on Digital Marketing this quarter, and I thought it would be interesting to do a group post on a project we just completed. 

The technical part: the assignment was to manually “listen in” on the online chatter about a product or brand through a variety of channels. We chose to follow the Nike+ FuelBand using IceRocket, Twinitor and Google Alert emails. We then coded the qualitative data based on themes we observed in order to perform a quantitative assessment.

The fun part: the final part of the project was to create an infographic to visually convey our findings. The goal was to keep it simple and tell just a few stories rather than describe everything we found in all of the data. 

Below are some thoughts/ideas/reflections we came up with as a group a few days after the project was turned in. Let us know what you think!

Graphic Design is a Powerful Tool for Communication

Christine: I come from a graphic design background, so this project was really fun for me! It was the first time since arriving at UC Davis that I was able to flex my creative muscles on a school project. We wanted to convey several simple points with our graphic: that women were posting much more often about the FuelBand than men, that the majority of the content was technical talk, BUT that men were posting much more content about the technical aspects of the product, whereas women discussed personal use situations. I think our infographic was one of the best in the class, especially in terms of Tufte’s data-to-ink ratio.

Julia: While I consider myself a fan of graphic design, I have never had the opportunity to work on a project like this. Thank goodness we had Christine on our team! We definitely relied on her skill in this area. Our professor stressed the importance of keeping our infographic simple for maximum impact. Infographics are ubiquitous in media today and I appreciated the challenge of creating our own. They can be such a powerful tool. I am already thinking of ways I can use infographics in my summer internship project! That’s b-school education paying off.

Rachel: This was definitely a fun assignment, but also challenging for me because I am not very creative.  I look at infographics all the time but I’ve never really thought about the work that goes into making one, or the qualities that make up a good infographic or a bad one.

“Scientific” View of Social Media

Julia: Given that we are all ardent social media consumers, I found it particularly interesting to take a more scientific approach to gauging sentiments about particular brands or products. While we may have some vague idea about how certain topics are trending online, seeing how stories emerge, data point by data point, was enlightening. While most large-scale sentiment analysis and data coding is done by computer algorithms, we manually coded our data. While this would not be feasible for most real life situations, I feel as though we were able to capture the nuance in the various mentions across our channels.

Bros Before Hos: The Controversy

Julia: I expected a reaction to our tagline. We certainly were going for a provocative and cheeky phrase. However, I didn’t expect quite the intensity of reaction that our piece received based on these few words alone. I suppose this proves the importance of considering audience in your word choice. (I know….duh, right?) Looking back I think people either loved it or hated it. If generating discussion was the goal of this assignment, I think we definitely accomplished that aim. What do you think?

Christine: This was definitely a very interesting aspect, and I think one of the benefits of learning about social media and digital marketing in a business school setting. By doing things by hand for a class project (much like manual calculations in stats class!) we are learning the deeper meanings of limits and tradeoffs of technologies like Google Analytics or even Excel, which is very useful.

Rachel: As an analytical person,  I really enjoyed being able to look a all of the chatter about the product and extract useful insights from it. Data is used so often in business these days and I think it’s really important to learn how to present the data in a way that is easy for people to understand.

Rachel: We suspected that the Bros before hos line in our infographic might not sit well with everyone in the room but we didn’t realize that people would be so offended by it. I was really surprised. I felt like people were ignoring the overall quality of the infographic because of one tiny part of it.  

Christine: I was a bit surprised too -- I think it’s easy to forget that not everyone will view something you find funny or trivial in the same way. I have to admit that looking back on it, I feel like we probably should have thought this through more, presented ourselves as more professional. Just because it’s a classroom setting doesn’t mean we should assume everyone is in on the joke. It did get a laugh at first, but then the backlash kicked in -- I think this would happen similarly in a “real world” situation. For me it was a lesson learned.

We're curious to know what you think! Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!

xoChristine + Rachel + Julia

PS Click below to see the full infographic in all its glory.

Saint Laurent Fall 2014 Ready-to-Wear

The longer I look at this collection, the deeper I fall in love with it.

This is the wardrobe of my dreams -- the school girl style, sparkly shoes, bitchy haircuts, all the pretty dresses, oversized coats, and the CAPES! (I have an unhealthy obsession with capes and cloaks--check out my Pinterest board dedicated to them here.) Of course this collection has the cool 60's vibe I've always loved, but I was surprised by how much I loved some of the more 70's inspired looks. That black leather trench coat is beyond cool, and the glitter boots are just crazy. Who knew it was possible to make glittery gogo boots look that chic?

I'd love to be invited to whatever party these girls are going to.

xoChr

All images via vogue.com 

Paris FW: Carven Fall 2014

I decided I deserved a brief distraction while studying for my finance final, so I pulled together a few of my favorite looks from Carven's Fall 2014 RTW collection. It's a silly detail, but I was immediately struck by the way the models literally clutched their clutches. I kind of love it, there's a vulnerability there.

I will have a couple more favorite fashion month posts coming soon, as time permits. 

And now, back to work!

xoChr

all images via Vogue.com

Ready for Spring Fashion with Zara

I just took a peek at the latest lookbooks for Zara's Spring collections and I'm SO ready. I'm especially excited to reintroduce lighter colors and fabrics into my business school wardrobe. A lot of the looks The thought of bike riding through Davis with bare legs and a warm breeze sounds like heaven, although I haven't minded the winter here.

In any case, I've recently found myself really liking the idea of all-white for the first time in my life...we'll see. 

Any spring trends or activities you guys are looking forward to?

Check out the full lookbooks here.

xoChr

NSFW: Zana Bayne

I used to see Zana riding the bus in San Francisco. I'd be on my way to/from work, she was commuting to fashion school. I've been following her career for some time now, and am just thrilled to see her having so much success. Her vision is original, her execution is flawless. Here are some of my favorite looks from her Ornamentalist Collection, which she presented at NYFW last month. I'm totally obsessed with the leather tassels and gold chain fringe. So good.

Speaking of fashion week/month, I have been wanting to post so many of my favorite looks (those sparkly YSL boots yesterday!!) but of course school has been pretty nuts. I'll hopefully post some of my absolute favorites soon.

xoChr

all images via zanabayne.com

What was me

Forgive me for the cheesy content of this post, but...

I just got an email from the really nice guy who was our driver when I was on tour in Europe with one of my bands in 2009. He's working on a zine and wanted to check in on what people have been doing with their lives in the five years since we toured together. It was so nice to hear from him, and I'm suddenly flooded with so much nostalgia that I can't even handle it.

It was only four years ago that I stopped being an active musician. Just four tiny years have gone by, but it feels like a lifetime. I used to live/breathe/eat/sleep music. My band mates were my family, our music was my obsession. We spent so many hours rehearsing together in windowless rooms. Drove thousands of miles to shows that sometimes no one came to. I remember Alex sleeping on the roof of the van because it was so warm out. Steve's poorly-timed execution of an inside joke scaring the shit out of Carly on the highway. AJ's threat of air horn revenge in New Orleans. Ladyfest in TJ, and that tarantula near the well. Josh and Josh, Steve and Steve. That girl in Poland. That idiot kid in Arcata.

It's weird. I'm still the same person, but it feels like someone else's life. I'm lucky that it was mine.

xoChr

(photo above is from a house show in Tijuana. the best times.)

Business School Attire: Dressed for Work

Speaking of business attire, Refinery 29 nailed it with these looks in their "Ankle-Boot Outfits For Work (& Play!)" story today. I wear ankle boots a lot (almost always with dresses), and while I might not look quite as pulled together on a daily basis, it's certainly a goal to strive for!

Check out the full story on Refinery 29.

xoChr

Obsessed: Peter Pilotto for Target

How gorgeous are these looks by Peter Pilotto? To me, this is by far the most exciting collection presented by Target in collaboration with any designer. The items will be available in early February, so it remains to be seen how these stunning prints will translate (look/feel) to the actual fabrics, but I am totally obsessed.

I'm actually not a huge prints person, but I can see a lot of the more casual pieces fitting in well with my student lifestyle. I'm most excited to inject some excitement into my business attire. There are so many office-appropriate looks that would stand out for job interviews or work wear. He's taken the pencil skirt to a whole new level.

We'll see what my student budget will actually allow...but here are a few of my favorite items:

Like I said, obsessed.

xoChr

(images via fashionista)

8 Realities Facing Every First Year MBA

In the tradition of BuzzFeed and other funny list sites (my personal favorite being Whilst in SF), I present to you a list of the first-year MBA experience! 

DECIDING WHAT TO WEAR ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS: 

FINDING OUT ONE OF YOUR CLASSES HAS GROUP WORK. YAY, FRIENDS!

FINDING OUT EVERY CLASS HAS GROUP WORK: 

REALIZING YOU'RE THE OLD GRADUATE STUDENT IN A SEA OF UNDERGRADS: 

EXPLAINING FINANCE TO YOUR FRIENDS...

…what you THINK you sound like: 

 …what you ACTUALLY sound like: 

AFTER THE 100th TIME YOU'VE BEEN ASSIGNED A CASE ON APPLE:

AND THAT UNSHAKEABLE FEELING THAT FINALS ARE LOOMING...EVEN THOUGH IT'S ONLY WEEK 3:

BTW: This post was originally created for the UC Davis Graduate School of Management Ambassadors blog. The student Ambassadors program is a group that I'm heavily involved in and very much believe in. Our mission is to provide prospective students with real-life perspectives on what it's like to be an MBA student at UC Davis. Visit the Ambassadors blog here to learn more!

xoChr



Credits: 

All images via http://giphy.com/

Concept inspired by Leia Kazoo

6 tips for MBAs on how to break into the fashion business

I came across a nice little post over at Business of Fashion the other day where in BoF's editor-in-chief Imran Amed shares advice for MBAs trying to break into the fashion industry. I thought would be useful to share here.

Amed shares some classic advice (e.g. build relationships) as well as some industry-specific thoughts. Definitely worth a read through whether or not you're an MBA or interested in the fashion industry!

(image via Carven resort 2014)

Happy New Year!

Hi guys,

It's been a pretty long while since I've blogged here, and so much has happened since my last post. I finished my first quarter of business school, which I must say feels so odd. The distance of time between now and last September when I first moved away from San Francisco seems so stretched out -- like a hundred years have passed. I already feel like a different person in many ways even though this is still just the beginning.

Anyhow, I did manage to squeeze in a trip to Munich to celebrate NYE over winter break. My dear friend Nicole is living there for the year and showed me the best time ever! Highlights include a visit to the amazing Neuschwanstein castle in the Bavarian alps; eating all of the pretzels; drinking all of the beers; and swimming in an old bath house in the center of town. We had the opportunity to watch a screening of our friend Liza's film, Strange Little Cat. We saw some pretty crazy museum exhibits and had dinner party on new year's day. I was particularly impressed with the city's insistence on spending time outdoors despite the chilly weather. Biergartens, winter markets and outdoor seating at cafes were all very much in use. 

I really enjoyed getting to know Munich on a deeper level and understanding what it means to live in a German city. I have traveled extensively in Europe (and Germany most of all), but never had the opportunity to absorb so much of a city's rhythm as I did on this trip. It was an unforgettable experience. 

I took about 400 photos, but here are just a few.