steal, save, splurge

splurge: ugg sherling leather gloves £100.00

steal: new look leather gloves in cream £5.00
save: accessorize leather heart driving gloves £22.00

blog spotlight #1

hello! as the runways are in a dark period and my wardrobe is in dire need of a sort out, i've been keeping up with my favorite fashion, self-style, beauty, and lifestyle blogs. so to kick it off, i thought i'd introduce you to samatha aka beauty crush. 

a 22 year old Fashion styling graduate from London, samantha maintains her blog as well as posting vlogs on her youtube channel all whilst staying stunning and down-to-earth. known for her 'haul' posts and make-up tutorials her following grows everyday. but why not let the girl speak for herself?

happy halloween!

hello i've had a fantastically busy weekend and i thought i'd show you what i'd been up to, firstly i had my uni's halloween extravanganza at proud 2 on friday. it was actually a bit of a flop as it was organized by and external company and there were two other (larger) institutions who had a large proporation of non-english speaking students, and also as it wasn't a private event, a lot of britney fans on a high after her concert. the pre-drink was actually a lot more fun at kate's as you can tell, and i was really impressed by mhairi's make-up as i couldn't even tell it was her any more! on the saturday i had a party at an old friend's who is also at uni with me which was full of piracy, rum, mad dancing and polaroids.

anyone else have a fantastic weekend they want to share?

Elie Saab Spring-Summer 2012

White

modelled by: Anja Rubik, Julia Frauche, Jac, Fei Fei Sun, Mirte Maas

Yellow

modelled by: Yulia Kharlapanova, Bette Franke, Zuzanna Bijoch, Ming Xi, Cora Emmanuel

Peach
modelled by: Karmen Pedrau, Abby Lee Kershaw. Anja Rubik, Jac

Green 
modelled by: Fei Fei Sun, Mirte Maas, Daga Ziober, Zuzanna Bijoch

Blue
modelled by: Sigrid Agren, Karmen Pedrau, Jac, Nyasha Matonhodze

clearly, the biggest statement this season is sequins. combined with chiffon, trailing down bell shaped skirts, in plisse pleats. with a-symmetrical necklines, grecian gowns, and seventies silhouettes, and tie necks. although i love this collection, the critics were scathing, suggesting that it was more alongside gossip in tabloid magazines, but we will see, we'll see. 

all images from style.com

Jason Wu Spring 2012

i had to, i just had to jump the gun and post about the catwalks, after seeing the beauty of jason wu's latest collection, there's something so beautiful about the simplicity of the collection that speaks out to me. the collection can be summarised in three groups: neon brights, flower petal print, and whites. 

brights

modelled by (l-r) : aymeline valade, (no name provided), josephine skriver, isabella melo

when jason wu approaches neons, he keeps it simple: block colour, black belts, and blocks of texturised white. the a-symmetry in the pink skirts and hems means that blocks are broken up. his use of chiffon-like almost weightless nylon mutes the colours. there's no doubt that the lime-green short in the front long in the back (no, not a mullet!) ball gown will be gracing our red-carpets on the lithe body of the next mischa barton

flower petals

modelled by (l-r) : mirte maas, ming xi, valerija kelava, daria strokous

when mr wu cited infamous graffiti artist KAWS as an influence for this collection, it wasn't just lip-service, this gorgeous falling-petal silk screen print is a result of the collaboration of jason wu and KAWS, and isn't it wonderful? from the elegant dress made from nylon to those gorgeous tailored shorts, even palazzo pants. there is no doubt that this print is going to be shaking from the trees of the highstreet this spring. 

whites

modelled by (l-r) : caroline brasch nielsen, lindsey wixson, siri tollerød, daphne groenveld

white has always been a spring summer colour, it sings of fresh sheets, fresh cut grass, and wispy white clouds against a blue sky. so it's no surprise that a large proportion of this collection is white. but this white is spruced up and made new with textured fabric, loosely pleated skirts and blouses with added peplums all finished off with strappy black sandals and skinny black belts. perfection. obviously. 

so, what've been your favourite collections so far? and keep an eye out for my round up of the spring collections soon!

rave week #1

hello, and welcome to my weekly update on my studies as a foundation art student at ravensbourne, or rave as it has been affectionately nicknamed by us kids who call it uni. this week i have been studying the art of lens based media, i.e. photography, animation, and film. 

monday: the history of and introduction to the lens and the importance of composition. 

as our first official day of ravensbourne things were, if i'm honest, a little scary and big and shiny. as we had been set a task over the weekend to produce 15-20 photos based on 'this moment in my life' i was incredibly nervous i had interpreted the brief wrong, silly i know as there's no wrong answer in the art world. our tutor, tom, gave us a talk on the history of the lens and photography, and i had a little geek out as a lot of it i had covered last year in my physics a level as part of the astrophysics unit. this meant that the knowledge that was imparted on me made a lot more sense as i understood the basic mechanics of the camera. after this he clarified what was included in the lens based media pathway, which was quite intriguing to me, as i didn't realise it included sound design, something i've been interested in for a while through my music a-level. and then the practical. i'll admit, during the practical itself i hated it, it pushed me well outside my comfort zone. my drawing has always been something that i've kept personal, and producing work on such a large scale with everyone around means that there is no way no one could not see what i was doing. i chose the photograph of my road sign because i thought it would be easy to reproduce onto such a large scale, but i think i was mistaken, as the perspective proved more than difficult, and there was very little detail to put in, so i ended up finishing early and adding things in that weren't really there. definitely a big mistake, and given the chance to do this task again i'd definitely pick an image with a slightly easier perspective and more detail. after lunch we had 'crits' which are essentially talking about each others' work within small groups. i found this incredibly interesting, as during discussion points were raised about pieces that i would never thought of at all, and that there are so many levels within someone's work.

tuesday: the art of storytelling
the second day started gruesomely, with watching a short film based on the circumstances surrounding robert breechen, a man who was resuscitated in order to be executed, which stimulated really interesting conversations about the way the penal system works today and comparing our system to the us. we then moved on to the art of story telling, and establishing what made a good story, i.e. a beginning, middle, and end.. We then watched some short films by a well known film maker, and analysed them for their story telling, and discussed what made a good story. I have never really thought about what makes a good story and how the parts come together, so for me, this was really thought provoking and has influenced the way in which I analyse story telling mediums. We were set the task in groups of four to come up with some scenarios for which we could tell a story, our group got very side tracked with one story, and then managed to swing it round too make up several individual stories. We then had to come with a problem, resolution and struggles through which our character persevered in order to come up with a resolution to the intial problem. I actually found it quite difficult to seperate the intial problem and other things out from the whole story. We also were quite off the wall with our story making, but it did mean we weren't constrained by reality and were able to come up with some really unusual conclusions, although we did run into the problem of deus ex machina, or god of the machine, and thus making our stories believable.

Day Three - SDS
We were set the task of producing a set of six photographs or a short film following the rules of set-up, problem, struggle, resolution. I chose to produce a short stop-motion film about a girl who loses her balloon. Although the principles of stop motion were fairly new to me, I had a good idea, and knew my equipment and software reasonably well. My downfall was that I chose to animate it using hand made drawings, which meant that several characters and images needed to be re-drawn for frames in order to get the visual effect I wanted. This meant that I slightly under estimated the time I would need to create the film, so it is very simplistic. When attempting a project again I will definately ensure that I fully plan, and in the case of film storyboard, my ideas so I know exactly what it is I will need to undertake in order to ensure my work is of the highest standard possible.

Day Four
Back in college we spent the morning preparing our work for presentation as crits in the afternoon. Again I was nervous about the crit, but knowing that several people were in the same boat as me now, made it much easier. We all presented our images or films and discussed techniques that each student has used. We then left feedback on sheets using the guidelines that Damian had given us to ensure that everyone had sufficient feedback for the work that they had produced. General feedback comments for me were:

- Good composition of music against images.
- Well followed structure.
- Unclear in the scene with the dog.
- Only one camera angle used, meant that there was the same perspective.
- Simplistic nature works to make the story clear.

I was incredibly pleased with this feedback, given that it was my first time producing a film in this way, and it's defiantely something I will consider in the future. What I have taken away from this, is that I need to ensure that I make everything clear to everyone, as things that are clear to me, might not be clear to others. I have really enjoyed this pathway as it has opened my eyes to the way that the art world works.

baroque, bohemian, opulence, and apologies

okay, guilty, i've neglected posting for a bit, mostly so i can spend some time with the boy flat hunting, and the rest of the time fretting about a level results released today. bcd for anyone who cares, securing my place at ravensbourne, a specialist arts university based in north greenwich, near the millenium dome. but enough about that, it's another post away. i have made some decisions though, regarding the style of the blog. it will mostly contain my research and evalution, but with self&street style, plus trends and catwalk analysis. however whilst i have been away i have been researching. and today i would like to introuduce to you bavaria, bohemian opulence, or baroque punk.

according to the oxford english dictionary , the word baroque is derived from the portuguese word "barroco", spanish "barroco", or french "baroque", all of which refer to a "rough or imperfect pearl". the word bohemianterm "bohemian"  describes nontraditional lifestyles of marginalized and impoverished artists, writers, musicians, and actors in major european cities – emerged in france in the early 19th century when artists and creators began to concentrate in the lower-rent, lower class gypsy neighbourhoods. combine those and that's the image that many collections are set to parade on the catwalk, and topshop have kicked off releasing their bavarian collection just a few weeks ago. bavaria is the epitome of bohemian opulence, with a fancy-laid back feel, and yes what you're feeling is probably what people were when they were first introduced to carrot cake...i still don't get it, but the boy tells me it's fabulous...

from top, clockwise: - leopard&floral top £36 - cream faux sheepskin trapper hat £25- cream gypsy embroidered tunic £40- - red rose print sheer kimono £42- chandelier latern earrings £14 - Artwork velvet lace up shoes in red £75- Moto berry baxter jeans £40 - etched bar collar necklace £16.50- black circle lace tights £12 -

p.s. sorry about the image quality, i'm not really sure what's going on here.