Take it from Ke$ha - We Are Who We Are

Working in a school tells you something, we as people are very judgemental. If you don't look the same as your friends, if you don't listen to the same music as them, if you don't like the same stuff, they don't like you anymore. Which is a bit sad if you ask me.

It is only when you leave school when you can truly become an individual and find your way in life, you begin to buy your own things with your own money, you get new friends with different interests.

As much as I appreciate the school system, it gives me a living afterall, I have the feeling that we are stifling the children we are teaching. We are telling them how to dress, how to have their hair, what make-up they can and can't wear, no wonder they rebel sometimes.
When I was at school I had a hard time, I was different, and I didn't understand why I shouldn't be, afterall I was just being me. What was so wrong with that? Needless to say, school wasn't much fun and is a time in my life I would rather forget.

We are regularly bombarded by images in the media of the celebrities making headlines for all the wrong reasons, aren't we just telling people it alright to be like that as long as it gets you famous? Aren't we just justifying the actions of others? What kind of message is that?
I often tell my pupils that it's ok to be wrong. They are so scared of getting things wrong and being villified infront of their peers for it. So they become sheep and follow the crowd.

Being an individual means doing what you want - within reason of course, wearing what you want, being who you want to be. There are a few people in the media at the moment who should be applauded for promoting individuality; Ke$ha, Katy Perry, Rihanna and, of course, Lady Gaga.

I'm going to focus on Ke$ha in particular for a minute, whenever you see her on red carpets or in interviews she always seems to have a certain style, a 'I never answer to anyone' style, it's effortles; you know when you see her she has had a say in what she is wearing. Whereas many celebrities these days seem to have stylists for dressing them and the small animals they carry around with them.

So, let's celebrate individuality, and next time you go into your wardrobe, choose yourself an outfit that tells people you are who you are, and you're not bothered what they think, because if they have judged you in that split second of meeting you, surely they can't be worth knowing.

If you don't take it from me, take it from Ke$ha, after all 'We Are Who We Are'.

Comic Relief Rocks! Thanks to Vivienne Westwood

Every other year the British public are treated to a night of comedy, music and general entertainment and given the chance for some 'Comic Relief'. All we have to do is give up a few quid and wear a variety of red noses.
Two years ago, Fashion Designer Stella McCartney designed some T-Shirts to be sold in TK MAXX stores in conjunction with the red nose campaign, it showed images of iconic celebrities throughout the years with simply a red spot placed over their nose. Celebrities included; Morcambe and Wise, The Beetles and Madonna.

This year, the task has been handed to iconic British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and the results have been fairly similar:

She has chosen some slightly different characters however, whereas McCartney chose celebrities,  Westwood has chosen a Historical theme. A punk woman from the 1970s, Shakespeare, Blackadder and Hogarths 'The Laughing Audience'. Making her designs feel totally unique. Of course the celebrities are involved aswell - as they always are. Sienna Miller looks pretty amazing in the Blackadder design (below).

The t-shirts are available online and instore from TK MAXX.

Lady Gaga - Genius or Madwoman??

A few years ago we didn't know who this woman was. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was just another wannabe trying to make it on the music scene, writing songs for other people.

Then all of a sudden  this elusive woman appeared, she dressed a bit wacky and Akon had signed her to his label and featured on her song, she must have been good, we thought.
Little did we know whilst we were strutting our stuff on the dancefloor to 'Just Dance', the monster she had created for herself.

When Lady Gaga began trying to make it in the music business, she went by her real name and dressed fairly normally - we didn't want to know, no matter that she was sitting on future hits such as 'Bad Romance'. She was just the same as everyone else, and we had had enough of that. Britney, Christina, Jessica and Mandy. We weren't bothered anymore, we were just about growing out of the others as it was.

Then, as if by magic, she changed her name, her style and her attitude. Just as Britney was going a bit mad and shaving her hair off, Lady Gaga took her turn in the spotlight and never looked back.

We are currently awaiting the release of that 'difficult' second album, and last week we had the lyrics released for her forthcoming single 'Born This Way' - not the video or a snippet of sound - the lyrics.
That is just Gagas way of course, she likes to do things differently. She wore a dress made of meat afterall. I don't think she's mental at all, I think she's quite clever. She keeps people talking about her. Even when she is not around.

Behind the facade of meat dresses, pvc corsets and the array of hats she has, is a brilliant songwriter. If you listen to 'The Fame Monster' you will hear some beautiful lyrics. Speechless, Brown Eyes, Bad Romance and even her new song Born This Way. They are so full of emotion and tenderness. In particular, Speechless is a touching account of being so in love with someone that it renders you speechless when it comes to an end.

I’ll never talk again
Oh boy you’ve left me speechless
You’ve left me speechless, so speechless

I can’t believe how you slurred at me
With your half wired broken jaw
You popped my heart seams
On my bubble dreams, bubble dreams



It is quite clear that Gaga has lived through some serious heartbreak, along with a whole host of other emotions, and cleraly for the music industry she came along at the right time. She wasn't stupid, she never gave up, she knew in the end that we would want to hear what she had to say. So what if she dresses a bit weird in bubble dresses and with Coke cans on her head. It's a talking point - and she WANTS us to talk about her.

When I did my degree I got told that the best form of advertising is through word of mouth, all she is doing is harnessing it's potential for her own gain - after all isn't that what Britney, Lilo and Paris do with the paps? She's just playing the game to her own advantage. You can't blame her for that.

I love her album, I never rated it at first until I heard it, but it is beautifully written. So I would definately go and see her show, no matter how much it cost. She's an individual and is allowed to do what she wants - she's not mad, just very very clever.

And maybe just a little kooky.

The New Look: A Fashion Revolution

Ever since I began my journey into studying Fashion I have always been interested in the work of Christian Dior. Maybe it is his beautiful designs, or the fact that he changed the face of fashion as we know it. All I know is, I love his work and no matter how hard Galliano tries, he can never replace him.

To tell this story properly, we need to go back about 60 odd years, the world had just come out of the second world war. New technology had been invented to combat the enemy and new ways of producing that technology had arisen as a by-product. But lurking behind the success and celebrations of victory was the bleak truth, awful things had happened.
The world would never be the same.

Along came Mr. Dior in 1947 with something he liked to call; The 'New Look', it was a new way for women to wear clothes after the austerity of rationing and the closures of the fashion houses in Paris, now was the time to re-invent ourselves - to be whoever we wanted to be.

Dior produced a whole new silhouette for the modern post-war woman. There were vibrant colours, sequins and diamantes and tight cinched in waistlines. Women loved it.

To this day, so do I. There is something mystical about the fact that Dior changed the whole face of Fashion as we know it. Who knows where we would be now if he hadn't?
Would we have our Topshop, River Island or the namesake shop itself: New Look? Possibly, but we certainly wouldn't be where we are now with fashion.

Before the 1950s we don't tend to know very much about fashion design itself, sure, we know the styles and the accessories that were popular, but do we know the designers? No.

The reason? Because up until the first world war, you either made your clothes yourself or had someone come and measure you and make something to order. And during the war, you pretty much made do with what you had.

Dior set the bar for a whole host of fashion design starlets, Balengiaga, Valentino and many more that took on the idea that clothing was no longer about convenience - but style and choice.

So for that Mr. Dior, I applaude you. Bravo, and long may your name reign in the fashion world.

Helena Bonham Carter - Red Carpet Chic or Freak?

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I went to see 'The Kings Speech' at the cinema and I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of Helena Bonham Carter as the young Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. 
I never really rated Helena Bonham Carter before seeing this film, sure enough she was funny as the Red Queen in an otherwise lacklustre version of Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton, coincidently, her husband. And I began to wonder whether she just got roles in films that he was invloved in making.
Needless to say her portrayal of the young Queen Elizabeth in the Kings Speech surprised me, she was a breath of fresh air within an otherwise male character driven piece, and she had great comic timing, often stealing the show in some cases.

Much has been documented about Bonham Carters fashion sense. Just recently she turned up at the Golden Globes with two different shoes on. Her explanation? 'Who says we need to wear the same shoes?' - Fair comment I hear you say.
She seems to have a rather thrown together look, like she just found the first thing in her wardrobe and thought 'I can work that' and put them on. As you can see from the image above, for everyday wear, her hap-hazard style isn't that risky. But at a preimere? That's a whole different ball game...

The two images above show Bonham Carter at two premieres for her more child friendly films; Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland. Maybe it is the nature of the films she is attending that enables her to tap into a slightly more child-like fashion sense, having a bag with each outfit that you would not see out of place in the Disney store. I don't think that these outfits are as hideous as some critics would suggest, far from it, if anything the only thing wrong with them is that they don't suit her body shape - the white dress in particular.

At the end of the day, her style is that she refuses to conform to the fashion and trend norm, many a-listers can say that they do that, but she actually does.
It's like she's saying to us women; 'Who says we need to wear what someone else tells us looks good' - why can't we women decide for ourselves? She seems to and it works.

We are always told that we should feel comfortable in our own skin. So why not do that with our clothes?

Whatever people think of Helena Bonham Carter, I have now seen her in a new light and whatever she wears, whatever films she stars in, she gets people talking about both her fashion and her acting.
Isn't that the whole point?

Becoming inspired by the 70s

Before selling my soul to the devil... I mean, becoming a teacher, I was a poor Fashion Student taking a national diploma in Fashion. The very same course I teach my lovely year 12 class now.
I had never done any textiles before as my school didn't offer the subject, but I was really interested in it, so I thought I'd give it a go on the basis that if it's something I enjoyed, I would be good at it, or more inclined to get better if I wasn't good. That advice I gave myself turned out to be the most valuable piece of information I ever had. Advice which I believe in so much, I tell my pupils today.

When I began my National Diploma I knew very little about Fashion in general, my mum had always bought my clothes and I had tended to follow the crowd when it came to trend. Which is why I have the most hideous passport photo of my dressed as a Chav - I thought I was cool. Obviously, I was wrong.
Nowadays I tend to actually follow trend and read magazines and newspapers, along with shopping for myself so I follow no crowd and have my own sense of style.
My first lot of designs were anything but good. They were awful. But when I found my own point of view I realised I wasn't influenced by trends current or previous but more the decade and what happened within that time. I believe alot of what happens in the media and news effects not only fashion but art aswell. Take the 1980s; power dressing and Margaret Thatcher? You see what I mean.

So my first lot of designs for about 5 years proved to be inspired by yet another decade; the 1970s. Whilst researching a previous blog I found an image of some vintage 1970s fabric and fell in love.

So, feeling inspired by the floral pattern I got out my pencils, watercolours and paper and began my work.
After so long of having to design for a specific purpose, to a design brief, for someone else; it was nice to just do it for me.
I had no one to show them to, to ask if I was doing the right thing - because I didn't have to. They were mine, almost like a secret I would never show the world.
Obviously I am showing the world, and therefore, they no longer become a secret, but I'm proud of them and the peace they bought me whilst doing them.



So, if you haven't designed, drawn or painted for a while. Find the time - you won't regret it, if anything, you will feel so much better afterwards.

Here are my designs; feel free to comment, or not, it's up to you...

Valentino - worth the hype or worth a miss?

Let's get this straight, I am a massive lover of Vintage Couture - I don't care who it's by; Balenciaga, Dior, Chanel, Valentino - It's pretty, high fashion, bejewelled and like a magpie, I love it.
So I always venture into Couture fashion week with baited breath, but so far have not been let down. Armani, Dior and Gaultier have all proved their worth and have secured their place in fashion history for one more year.
But Valentino, where do I begin....?



When I was a poor fashion student undertaking a National Diploma with little knowledge of fashion designers, I set myself a task of researching designers and Valentino was the first one I came across. And I instantly fell in love. What he achieved was true couture, it was daring and exciting. The colours, the fabrics and the volume all went up a notch with Valentino.

As you can see - the current creative directors have a lot to live up to in my eyes. And I don't quite think they make it to be honest. This weeks couture show was a little... well, boring. There was no pizazz, it just looked like a ready to wear collection with more expensive fabric being used. It was sumptuous, i'll give them that. There was lace, silk and chiffon. But I can't help thinking that this was not what the great man would have envisaged all those years ago.

Gaultier - wow!

Now, we know the term 'Haute Couture' was coined with Jean Paul Gaultier in mind and I for one didn't think he could get any better. But yesterdays show takes the biscuit.

On paper, french can-can girls and british punk rock do not mix, but, Gaultier has worked his magic in the only way he knows how. Topping the show off in style with a classic bridal piece, modelled in a less than classic way.

Gaultiers new muse was the star of the show, not shocking you might say, all designers do that. Yes they do, but do they let their male muse star in their womenswear couture show? I think not.

But Gaultier gets away with it, he's french, Avant Guarde may aswell be his middle name - so it works, and to be honest would you really know that Andrej Pejic is a man if you hadn't been told beforehand?

Words cannot describe the love/hate relationship I have had with Gaultier over the years (I am not a fan of the old Madonna pointy bra effect and never will be), but the reason I keep coming back is that he just keeps us guessing - and that's exciting, that is what true couture should be.

Ooh La La! Etam back with a bang!

It was the most bemusing addition to the Paris Couture Fashion Week line up. Etam. And if that wasn't shocking enough, they were going to bring us Lingerie.
Now, don't get me wrong, I used to work in my local Etam shop about a year before they disappeared from the High Street and about a year and a half before BHS ruined Tammy Girl, but even I had a double take when I saw the listing.
Etam to me were always a bit middle of the road in the fashion stakes, they were where you went when you needed a new coat for work or an everyday pair of Jeans, maybe have a browse whilst you are there. But Lingerie? I don't think our store even sold it.
When I saw this image today I was delighted. The designers have definatley brought the brand back with a bang. It's feminine, flirty and just that little bit sexy. I for one, can't wait until it hits the shops!
But where? Could they take on the High St. Lingerie giants like La Senza? With a growing Celebrity following (Kate Moss, Beth Ditto and Boy George were spotted at the show) and designs like these, they just might do it.

Oscar Nominations are in!

 James Franco is up for Best Actor for his role in Danny Boyle's 127 Hours

BEST FILM
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are Alright
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Javier Bardem - Biutiful
Jeff Bridges - True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale - The Fighter
John Hawkes - Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner - The Town
Mark Ruffalo -  The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams - The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 Hours - Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network - Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3  -  Michael Arndt 
True Grit - Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter's Bone - Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Another Year - Mike Leigh
The Fighter - Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception  - Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right - Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
The King's Speech - David Seidler
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Black Swan  - Darren Aronofsky
The Fighter - David O. Russell
The King's Speech - Tom Hooper
The Social Network  - David Fincher
True Grit - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1350388/Oscar-nominations-2011-The-Kings-Speech-leads-field-12-nods-including-Colin-Firth-Best-Actor.html#ixzz1C4smwN2z

John Galliano gets Hot!

Flicking through the free newspaper this morning on the way to work I came across the photos from the John Galliano SS11 Haute Couture show in Paris yesterday. And it looks to me like he has given Dior's original 'New Look' a new twist for the 21st Century.

 Galliano has always been my favourite Avant guarde designer and the 1950s have always been my favourite era, so you can imagine my surprise and delight when I saw these pictures.
Galliano says he was Inspired by the illustrator René Gruau, who was close to Dior, Galliano said he was interested in the artist's elegant brush stroke and sophisticated play between light and shade. So Galliano uses block colours and designs that have an elegant mad men style look - but volumised!

Here are some of my favourite pieces; but alas, with Haute Couture currently costing around £50,000 - I feel I may never be the owner of one of these beauties...

High Street Fashion - Outfit of the Week

This weekend I went shopping for an outfit for my post christmas/end of January works party - as my employers didn't think they should do the same as everyone else and have a party at Christmas.
Anyway, I digress...
Out in the Trafford Centre yesterday I realised that the high street fashion stores certainly have alot going for them! Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and Topshop are the three I found myself going back to for a second time, for three different reasons.
Miss Selfridge, has a massive, gorgeous range of jewellery; chunky bracelets, dangly earrings, all kinds of necklaces and hair fascinators. My favourite is this rhinestone silver necklace (right) at a bargain for £5.00.
Dorothy Perkins has recently begun collaborating with other designers and giving them concession stands instore. This dress on the right is by one of those designers, Rise, and is a steal at £35.00, as it is completely covered in this leaf design with sequins and beads. And looks heavenly on.
Topshop has always been my go to for shoes that are stylish and will literally go the distance, and there are still some stylish buys left instore in their sale section. These shoes are called 'Stella' and are right on trend for this SS11 as they are platform peep toes. And what more reason could you need than over 50% saving at £35.00.

Get into Ballet Fashion with Black Swan

I'm off to the cinema tomorrow with the other half to see Black Swan. I'm going for two reasons, one, because it looks intriguingly good and two, because the costumes look AMAZING.
I have been looking into the costume design recently as I've been teaching my Year 12 students about it, so looking further into the costume design for Black Swan was more of a joy rather than a chore.

Mila Kunis as Lily in 'Black Swan'

Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers in 'Black Swan'

Amy Westcott and co. certainly have done a marvelous job, however, the more I have looked into this - the more I have seen how this film has taken it's costume design influence from high street fashion. So, if you love the look, then you can get it!
Obviously, you don't want to go the whole hog, unless you are an actual ballerina. But as a quirky addition to a lack-lustre outfit the Black Swan look is the way to go.

So, here are some of my top choices for you to emulate the Black Swan look:

Left: Headband, Accessorize: £12 Right: Headband, Topshop: £18

Above: Scarf, Topshop: £25

Above: If you're feeling slightly more generous, give yourself the gift of Marchesa, which combines both the looks of the Black and White Swan.