Happy Sunday...

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london calling...

helloooo SASS AND BIDE
I totally fell in love with the Sass and Bide collection shown at London Fashion Week last Friday, it was jam packed with sparkles and leather... here is a little fashion report I put together as part of a competition for Grazia Mag...

SASS AND BIDE - The Australian design duo delivered a feast of texture and layering during their show this week, unveiling the epitome of the hard edged modern goddess.

Sarah Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton provided a collection which allowed an essence of luxury to filter through into each garment with the help of heavy embellishment and metal work. The combination of the hard edge surfaces with the flowing fabrics found in the Grecian inspired dresses gave way to a noticeable suggestion of rock chick femininity.

White, black and brown base colours were sprinkled with gold and silver sequins, alongside monochrome tribal pattern prints and stripes. The marriage of the slinky wide leg trouser with the structured and embellished jackets created a feeling of depth and interest within the layering of the outfits.

Key features of the collection were found in heavily embellished neck and shoulder details which could be mistaken for luxury armour. This hardwear was sat alongside and at times underneath the fluidity of the fantastic low slung cream frocks which helped exemplify the designer’s beach vibe home roots.

The combination of contrasting fabrics and textures came into focus via the use of satin slinks and voluptuous silk trousers with the density of beaded shrugs and over the elbow leather spiked gloves.

Attention to detail has never been so thoughtful, whether it was showcased through the fringed yokes of camis and mini dresses or through the use of mosaic hardwear which clung around the cuffs and waists of the garments it was clear to see that the collections definition and hope of “perfectly placed chaos” was undeniably achieved.

stylish living...

Some quirky and colourful images from Living Etc

Jo Berryman's London Home

So I have been flicking through a book called "the well worn interior" by Robin Forster and Tim Whittaker. It's jam packed with aging buildings and interiors from around the world, dedicating a chapter to each room in the house. It really is a lovely book to spend an hour flicking through, the photography is brilliant in the book, it highlights details of peeling wallpaper and ornate architecture perfectlty. As predicted I already have about 25 post it notes marking out pages that I plan to photocopy.

But as lovely as this book is, after seeing all of these aging buildings and interiors I had a real hankering to see some new, fresh and modern interiors. And so off to Livingetc.com I went. I really could spend hours going through the galleries on this website, especially the tours of peoples homes. In particular the online photo tour of Jo Berryman's London flat. Her home is such a great mix of traditional and modern design that I couldn't help but feel ridiculously jealous each time I clicked "next" in order to be taken into another room of her home. Perhaps the most beautiful room in her home is her bedroom/bathroom/walk in wardrobe. Infact there really isn't any point in me refering to this as a "room", it is actually the entire first level of her flat which she decided to convert into what I can only describe as every girls dream. I have posted a few of my favourites images from the website, including some of the Berryman home.

Hope you enjoy

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colour me happy...

So, much like every other day this past fortnight, I have spent my day carrying on with my sketchbook work, trying to finalise some ideas in my project ready for weaving. Although today has not been a truly work filled day, I have collected copius amounts (as usual) of beautiful images to keep me going through the days when I feel a bit flat or low on inspiration. And it is on these days that I simply look at the work of fashion designer Erdem. I hadn't been aware of his designs until last summer when I came across a feature of his work in ELLE magazine, as described by many, he really is a master of colour. I am the ultimate fan of watercolours, and as this is an effect he tries to encapsulate in his beautiful printed silk fabrics, I was hooked almost instantly. The balancing and combination of colour found in his work is a craft in itself, his work really does inspire me to be a little more daring with colour washes and mixing...

Unfortunately these dresses can only take up space on my wish list, not my wardrobe... for now, I will settle with them being my desktop background. Whether this is torture or inspirational I'm yet to find out.

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Happy Sunday...

lovely work from - dekaAnimals

Happy Valentines

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A paintbrush and a match...

INSPIRATION WALL ABOVE DESK

decorative pattern work

So I thought it was about time that I started to share some of my work on here. It is relatively early days for this project. I have more contextual research than drawing work at the moment, but I am getting there. Heading towards the time of sorting out my yarns and setting up the loom... something which I openly admit to disliking. I do however enjoy my sketchbook work... its now all about getting my ideas from the page into cloth. And so my journey continues. Here is a little glimpse into the jumble that is my inspiration/work in progress.

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R.I.P McQueen

A truly great and unique British designer. R.I.P.

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Cut and Stick....

So now that I have finally decided on my set project theme, along with a sparkly new brief I have set to work on some inspirational collages to help trigger my design work. I have been busying my Sunday with doing plenty of these pages, having a celebratory cup of tea after each one is finished. Here is a little glimpse of my latest one.

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Happy Sunday

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life's a stage....

So today I have started doing more visual research for my new project in uni. Since going to see the Moscow Ballet last week at the theatre I was inspired by the beauty of the interior of the Royal Court Theatre here in Notts ; this has lead me to combine this area of visual research with my antique/aged luxury.

There really is nothing more luxurious than the interiors and decorative architecture of theatres, this is something I'm going to try capture in my own weaves design and creations. Looking at metallics in particular. As of yet I have not come up with any finalised colour paletter, but I do have some in mind....

Here are two of the images that made me want to look at theatre interiors further

The second image in particular really captured my imagination, the limited colour palette is so effective within the overall atmosphere and feel of the room, something which I will definately consider when starting my design work. A limited colour selection with two metallic tones could be a really interesting path to go down. Hello sketchbook ....
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Pit Stop...

So, this week is a very busy week for me. I have just started my work experience at George on the Ladieswear dept, this means getting up much earlier than my body or brain has experienced before and getting home late. It is all worth it, in the end. I got to see first hand how such a huge company sets about desiging and making a new collection, it was all very inspiring, if not a little overwhelming.

I will however try to make sure I keep my posts up to date, I am dedicated :p

I just have to share some lovely outfits that I found on the Jack Wills website whilst I was doing some moodboard research in George today, yes the price tags are a little hefty for a struggling student such as myself, but they are pretty... you must agree.

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