Walk Walk Fashion Baby

I got to tick off something on my bucket list last night! I am still floating from the buzz of it all. I got to walk in on a professional runway. Though I was walking for the first year fashion students 'White' collection, there was still a paying audience and professional models in the wings waiting to start their collection.

I had seen an email on the NOW about recruiting models for the show and on a whim has emailed back saying I would be happy to help. I thought they would take one look at me, laugh and show me the door...I am 5'3, hardly model height. But nonetheless I was fitted to a very interesting outfit and I got to walk in the show. Queue girly screaming with happiness!

It was great because after we had walked our part of the show we got to sit and watch the 'Style show live' which was part of the Nottingham fashion week. The show was hosted by none other than the stunning Alice Levine from BBC radio 1 who is as lovely off air, as she is on. The style show had six sections all showcasing clothing that you could buy from the Victoria centre: Nauticaluxe, Botanicals, Monochrome, Think Pink, Dreamweaver and Colour Clash. It was a very fun and energetic show, through it was very commercial rather than a high fashion catwalk. the models appeared to be having fun, smiling and interacting with one another. I suppose they were selling lifestyle as much as clothing at an event such as that.

It has gone down in my books as one of the best things I have ever done on a whim. What an experience!

Reign

I am a huge fan of Historical dramas and history in general. I love visiting stately homes, Castles and Historically interesting places. There is something alluring about the past. The different pace of life the horrible and thrilling things that have come before us and shaped us into being what and who we are today. I adore learning about the intricacies and quirks of the different rulers and the numerous plots and conspiracies of the past, I find much inspiration from the past, aesthetically and as points of reference within my work. Whether it be belief systems or the fashions of the past I find it fascinating.

Because of this and another (slightly less boastful) hobby of mine; watching films and Tv shows by the hundred. I stumbled across a television series called 'Reign'. It follows the story of the young Mary Queen of Scotts and her life in France. It is a period of history I have basic understanding of but know nothing in depth so I was interested. I am fully aware that this adaption would have few to no links to reality but it has to be entertaining eh? Plus there was a rather beautiful actor involved so I was watching it historically accurate or not.

As I settled into the series I began to realise that though the narratives were entertaining and the acting was good there was something else that was keeping me hooked to the series. It was the incredible costume design. The Dresses, Oh! the dresses! They were stunning, Each outfit seemed to upstage the last, Not only in the main cast but supporting actors and actresses also seemed to have my dream wardrobe of taffeta, lace, billowing skirts and opulent coats. I found I was looking forward to seeing what they would be wearing next. I was laying in bed at night thinking about these dresses and which ones I would wear, who's I liked best. It was distracting me from day to day activities (Fuelling my obsession with ballgowns is never healthy). But who was I to blame for this? Who was the costume co-ordinator for this program, I had to find out more.

Meredith Markwork- Pollack is the costume designer in question, she has also worked on Gossip Girl and Heart of Dixie so her talent is undeniable. She says that she was inspired by films such as 'Le Reign Margot',the Dolce and Gabanna and  Oscar de la Renta collections at the time. But Where did she get some of the gowns? and could I afford them (potentially)? Apparently a lot of the dresses came from Vintage stores in Toronto where much of the series was filmed but others came from Free People, Basil Soda and Alexander McQueen *sigh*. Meredith also says that she gets a lot of outfits from online sites such as Web net - a porter, The outnet and BHLDN. Please excuse me whilst I go and spend a lot of money I don't have on stunning dresses to fulfil my childhood dream of being a princess.

Spotlight on local talent

I have had one of those extremely strange experiences this weekend. Through a mutual friend I ended up being asked to step in and help out with a production at the Nottingham art centre. Apparently a mystery illness has swept through the technical and backstage crew, meaning non affiliated persons such as myself were having to be recruited.

I was looking forward to being maybe a runner doing odd jobs and stuff for the cast and crew, being the lowest of the low but it was going to be fun to do something different. I turned up on the Wednesday morning bright eyes and bushy tailed and started helping move props into the theatre, helping with odd jobs as I had expected, shop runs for super glue and the likes. However when the stage manager turned up it became more and more apparent that i was not, in fact to be a runner for the show. But that one of the spotlight operators had dropped out and I was to be taking over for the shows.

Queue me having a mild panic attack, I am the most technophobic human on the planet, I have an uncanny knack in messing things like this up. But nonetheless this was a role I had been given, so I was damn well going to to my best. At the end of the day it is a crazy new experience I can add to my list.

Wednesday through till Friday was filled with technical run-throughs, dress rehearsals and multiple stops, starts, mistakes and wonderful acting. I soon picked up how to use the spotlight a huge machine that i lovingly named 'Samuel', and after watching the show about 20 times knew most of the lyrics to the songs as well as choice snippets from the script. I was having a really good time. The only downside was the fact that Samuel was about a hundred years old and as soon as he was turned on cooked the person operating him to death. Trapped in a tiny box at the rear of the theatre like a sauna for well over 12 hours in a day was definitely a trial. But a very entertaining one.

The production was 'The Adams Family' it was organised, directed and acted by NTU students who are part of the drama society. I had never seen this musical before but as a fan of musical theatre it was a joy to be immersed within the world of the show. This is almost my love letter to the drama society, they where absolutely incredible! The show looked and felt professional and it was an absolute honour to work alongside them on this project.

So in conclusion, always offer to help if you can, it not only helps other people (which is always really important) but it gives you new life experiences which make you a much more rounded and interesting individual. And its normally great fun too!

Through the Lense: 90's

There has been a rise and subsequent fall of a resurgent trend, one that seems to rear it head in some form or another every few years; The 90's. Crop tops are back, Loose trousers are replacing the skinny jean, The tattoo look chocker is in every girls wardrobe. Thank goodness greasy look hair and thick lipgloss haven't been resuscitated. Some things are best left in the past. 

This recent trend has me thinking about the heyday of super models in the 90's. The faces of Tyra Banks, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss gracing every cover or editorial you could find. Not only this but the iconic style of the photography at this period is something that I have never tried to capture before. So I gave myself a challenge, Recreate the mood of some of these Iconic women through photography...

Photoshoots with supermodels tended to be focused on there apparent perfection. the true beauty of these women, They were not overtly sexualised or extremely posed however they all exuded confidence and created truly memorable images. 

When I was looking for inspiration for this shoot I was hugely influenced by this image. I loved the ambiguity of the models relationship and the balance between direct and indirect adress with the audience. The two shot works well and I decided that I too was going to use two models within my shoot and shoot it in black and white. I wanted to covey the same ambiguity within the poses and facial expression, Balancing between boredom and fear. Here Is what I managed: 

 

The Dress

I was gifted 'The dress' by Megan Hess, a fantastic book containing her stunning fashion illustrations of what she considers 100 of the most iconic moneys in fashion. These illustrations come from designers collections, icons, weddings, music, films and the oscars. Each illustration is completely stunning and it was amazing how many of these dresses that I recognised and I had myself glorified as being the most memorable and beautiful moments that helped me define my personal taste.

Reading this book has encouraged me to re-visit many of the films it mentions to properly appreciate the fashion within them. But mostly this book made me think about the way that it glorifies one moment in each of these peoples lives and quite often presents just a single outfit from their vast collections. This creates the illusion of perfect style but I can guarantee every single person in this book also owns a huge baggy jumper and fat pants for when they are feeling sorry for themselves and though they wouldn't be caught dead wearing them in public they wear them a damn sight more often than these stunning dresses. 

That thought in particular made me look at my own wardrobe and wonder if through illustrations like Meagan Hess I could make it look as though I had glamorous tastes and true glorifiable fashion sense.  so here is my go.....

Harpers Bazaar Collection

For Christmas I received a very thoughtful and probably more helpful than a care to admit gift from my mother; A years subscription to Harpers Bazaar. This is useful because though I am ashamed to admit this, I am not a huge fan of magazines in the same way that many girls on my course are. I love the editorials and I am more than happy to peruse them to pass time but I would chose a good book over a magazine every single time given the option. But to have this subscription keeps me up to date on the editorials and fad trends that are developing within the landscape that I work in.

My favourite edition so far is the March publication featuring the stunning Nicole Kidman on the cover and in a beautiful series of editorials.

I have grown to appreciate the magazines as a wonderful source of inspiration for the creative elements of my own work drawing inspirations predominantly from the inventive photoshoots and advertising featured in this particular publication.

What magazines do you read? x