just me

Styling: Chelsey Williams

Photographer: Analise Trotter

styling in the studio

 Styling: Charlie Fi

Photographer: Ashleigh Bell

Make-Up & Hair: Gracie Revington

Assistant: Becca Turner

my kind of romance

It's rumoured that Galliano had a hand in this Autumn Winter 2013 collection, but it still screams of Oscar De La Renta's classic romantic design. 

A mix of mysterious hats and hoods, jewel colours and sheer lace adds romance to the already feminine silhouette. A very rich and colourful collection. If I'm honest, it's the hats and hoods that caught my interest. The rest can go to hell, been force fed enough romance today to last me all year.

balance

I love this photo. I found it in trend magazine Zoom. I like that you don't know if the balloon is suspended there or falling towards it's demise. Poor balloon.

the absence of hope

So here is a brief overview of my final major project, which will be enveloping my life for the next three months. It's called "The Absence of Hope". I'm looking at emotion and how it can be applied to fashion. My recently submitted dissertation involved the investigation of emotional branding; more specifically looking into how the fashion industry sells a desirable lifestyle in order to connect with the consumer. For this project I will essentially be doing the opposite.

The aim is to use emotion to connect by way of understanding a negative range of emotions and developing those into tangible garments that comfort the body. I will be looking at vulnerability, comfort, security and restriction - and the balance between these.

Above are some examples of pages from my research proposal. These help to visually demonstrate the mood I am going for. Click on the images to enlarge them to full screen.

getting around to it

It's been so long since I've posted that I couldn't even find the "New Post" button. But evidently I did find it and here we are. 

I could make excuses about how my university work has taken up all of my time and life has been too busy, but that's not why I didn't post. I just couldn't be arsed. My enthusiasm for fashion has dwindled somewhat over the past 6 months or so (I haven't established why that is) and yet I still find myself completing the third year of my fashion design course. I am not a quitter.

I am, however, excited about my final major project. We're required to design, develop and produce a six piece collection (in the short space of 12 weeks) on any theme that we choose. The topic that I've chosen came from the idea that fashion is frivolous. In the larger panorama of life, fashion is merely a fruitless distraction. Simply put, you can't polish a turd. And yet we all still try, following trend blindly in the hope of saying something meaningful about our identity.

No, I didn't put that in my proposal. Instead I researched emotion, mortality, hope and hopelessness: looking at the mind, and how a conceptual collection could comfort the soul. The aim is to give some longevity and meaning to an otherwise trifling task. And to get a good mark. 

I shall post some evidence of my hard work, for the minority of people reading this who happen to be interested, at a later date.

black is the new...

...trend for Spring 2013 it seems. While black is always a necessary wardrobe staple, regardless of the season, it seems to have taken over all of the colour on the catwalk. Head to toe black and monochrome are popular looks with some dense fabrics (or at least, for summer) mixed with sheer.

Above are examples from Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Haider Ackermann, Viktor & Rolf, A.F. Vandervorst, Alexis Mabille, Jonathan Saunders and Martin Grant. Perhaps this turn to black is a reaction to the economic recession and the connotations of depression associated with it. Maybe it's just a good idea.

millie mackintosh

I'm not one to gush or blog about celebrities, but I was doing a bit of summer style spying for my up and coming holiday shopping trips, and came across a number of style snaps of Millie Mackintosh. Originally this blog was going to be about her style (because I love it and wish she would style my entire wardrobe) but then I fell in love with these photo shoots. No one can pull of white like she can (no, not even Kimberley Garner). These pictures have been pinched from the St. Tropez campaign, FHM and the Metro.

when life gives you lemons

So I've now finished another year of university and this leaves me time for this, that and the blogging. The Jubilee has just passed and although it's a great celebration and a lot of fun, it's not my cup of tea. And so with red and blue out of action, this leaves us with yellow:

I would go as far as to say that pastel yellow is my least favourite colour of all time and always has been - but add a hint of lime green and it leaps right up there to my top 5 colours this season. What should we call this colour? Acid yellow? Lemon lime? Lime lemon? I have no idea. But I love it. From right to left (why not?) we have Oscar De La Renta Spring 2012, BCBG Max Azria Spring 2012 and a statement handbag taken from Topshop Tumblr.

intergalactic wargasms

Naked and green. Definitely didn't see that one coming! But an enjoyable shoot nonetheless and a lot of fun traveling home on the train (and doing the weekly shop to Asda on the ride home with Ma) with a green face. Only one person stopped to ask me about it while the rest stared at me as though I were a real life alien. This is my favourite shot from the day, but to check out the rest they're on here, a spread in Monolith Magazine, put together by Lore Oxford.