Aug 22
During tough financial times, we have to rationalise our spending and make sure we prioritise what money goes on what. Most people will still want to buy clothing to keep up with the latest trends and this has seen a store like Primark become an what seems an unstoppable force in fast fashion and with prices that won’t make you feel guilty that you’ve pinched from the money that you’re squirrelling away for the electric bill.
Primark I am sure has become the thorn in the side of a lot of retailers and brands, however labels that we may have bought quite regularly; just for a night out, or something for your holidays and treated as “disposable” like we do budget items may now become items of desire and investment.
There was a time when I would be that person who bought things and wore them only a couple of times and then confined them to the back of the wardrobe or shoe cupboard, but now I’m buying things that I know will last me and won’t date. A recent example was a pair of Grenson brogues for about £150; I knew that these were quality shoes, beautifully made with top quality leather and something I knew I’d get my money out of. I’ve had friends pleading poverty, but still turning up with a Mulberry bag that, “Was only £200 in the sale, it’s black and the perfect size so I can use it all the time” or with hundreds of pounds of shoes because, “At the end of the day a plain stiletto will never date….”
So perhaps we should think about investing into some “luxury” pieces that will last season after season. I like buying classic items that initially cost quite a lot. Yes, I get that pang of guilt that I may have to be careful with the food shopping, or pray that I won’t get a nasty letter because my phone bill was paid late, or give up going out that month, or getting a pack of 10 cigarettes and making them last! But the guilt wears off knowing that it’s money well spent and in the long run that perfect pair of brogues has stopped me buying two or three pairs of cheaper versions.
Sometimes it’s worth getting a red bill every now and then.
By Andrew Roberts
Follow Andrew on Twitter
Jul 29
I’ve been a lover of magazines for so long, I have old copies of The Clothes Show and Looks magazine (remember those?) in my mum’s loft and I can’t part with my back issues of Vogue, so much so they make a great side table! But since I discovered online fashion blogs they seem to have been sneaking in and vying for my affection.
Magazines to me are a real treat, I love getting home from work and seeing a pool of magazines on my door mat (I subscribe to a few of the monthly glossies), begging to be freed of their plastic and be read. So of course I duly obligate! An initial, quick run through of the magazine is needed first to soak in all the fashion shoots, new season inspiration and those must-have buys. Then it’s onto the full read through, from cover to cover, column by column, reading magazines is infectious and inspiring too.
With blogs, the information you read is so instant. Daily updates and links to social networking sites such as Twitter mean keeping up with anyone and everything is possible at anytime of the day. I love the variation blogs can offer, different points of view on the same topics. I actually think I am getting slightly addicted to the daily reports on who’s wearing what, where and when, combined with those little bits of gossip from parties you wouldn’t normally have access to – its enthralling! This way of sharing information is only going to get bigger and better and it’s so exciting to be part of the online advancement of the fashion world.
Working in the PR department at Gola, a main purpose of my job is to gain exposure for our brand. I’m constantly on the look out for new digital avenues to explore and magazines to target that fit in with our brand ethos and target audience. Every time we achieve a product placement in a magazine it’s exciting, seeing how the stylist has worked with our products. Day-to-day getting information online about our brand is key, we need to keep up with consumer demands. Likewise the feedback and comments we read from followers of the brand about Gola and the industry as a whole are crucial to our development and they shape how we market the brand worldwide.
I utilise both resources for business and in my personal life. So, in answer to the title, I’m getting used to sharing my love of magazines equally with my favourite new fashion blogs!
Amy Young
PR and marketing executive, Gola
Follow Amy on Twitter here.
Jul 12
Times have changed but we still love it.
Source
Feb 24
This SS’10 the RUGGER Collection has been meticulously reinvented to address the style conscious younger consumer. GANT RUGGER goes back to basics with a selection of iconic pieces and timeless American sportswear classics that are signature to the brand, whilst largely being influenced on original archive and vintage GANT pieces that represent the very foundations of the GANT brand.
This season the RUGGER line’s inspiration is drawn from the quintessential NYC male, resulting in a variety of classic high quality garments created with meticulous attention to detail. Key pieces include a waxed cotton parka and sun bleached chinos to create an effortlessly cool original preppy style fashioned by the 60’s Ivy League students. To complement the SS’10 RUGGER wardrobe, GANT have introduced a 40’s US Navy ‘Equip Bag’, comprising of a weekend bag, wash bag and travel wallet that acts as the perfect companion for any weekend getaway.
For every occasion this season, get the cool and effortless style of the NYC man with GANT RUGGER.
Feb 23
At FAD, I arrived an hour early and strolled around the same room quite happily until the show started. This was mainly due to the incredible sketchbook/portfolios of the participating designers, all of a beautiful standard. With the brief of creating two garments from 1, a personal memory and 2, a collective memory, seeing each designers interpretation was something these books helped to portray much better. The best part of recorded work is viewing the journey an individual has taken to reach the final outcome, and the samples, sketches and photograhs all riled the young design loving creature in my brain. One that instantly stood out for me was Rebecca Solity of DeMontfort University for her astoundingly professional prep work. Holographs of her researched photographs would not have looked out of place on a necklace or over-adorning a garment. Then the stamps from old photographs were taken and turned into a whole new print design for her final pieces. The journey and different variations she created were executed to perfection in sketch form, the garments looking quite beautiful too.
The winner of the night was Lithuanian, Rasa Abramaviciute and quite deservedly too. Her pieces featured geometric patterns covering a whole dress, curiously looking alike carpet. Definitely one of those garments made to be inspected upon closer viewing, leaving an air of mystery behind the clothing. Another print almost appearing like a scarf knit pattern enveloped a plain white dress, but not in the usual way. Here’ a bridge like construction covered both shoulders, still leaving a pristine white collar peaking out. These two dresses sound quite opposite and all too different to be cohesive, yet upon seeing them, the colourways create the perfect meshing of ideas. Through the garments, a link between them showed that the same materials and patterns aren’t needed when well constructed clothing has a message. Winning a placement at Vivienne Westwood seems very fitting for this promising young designer and I’m sure the experience will only better her blossoming talent.
Feb 23
Swedish born, London based Fannie Schiavoni creates amazing jewellery.
Her trademark chain pieces drape beautifully, following the lines of the feminine form. She uses hard-wearing, structurally sound materials to create elegant work. Her designs are going from strength to strength, this collection has taken the successful parts of her previous work and developed them beautifully.
Her A/W ‘10 designs have evolved onwards from the simple chain work, including metal scales and dyed sheep wool, making her pieces not just accessories but items of clothing.
You may have seen her cage dress if you’re an avid reader of Style Bubble, but expect to see a lot more of Fannie Schiavoni’s work in the future as Q magazine has recently strewn Lady Gaga with her work and plastered her all over the magazine.
Fannie’s designs are currently available on Browns Focus and Kabiri, but, if you are planning to invest in a piece I recommend you wait until the new collection is available, as it’s stunning!
For more info, visit her website.
Words and images by Clare Potts
Feb 22
Friday saw the start of London Fashion Week, with the official first digital steps to a digital LFW. LFW launched its new Digital Space, the Paul Costelloe show was streamed live, followed by a short film of 50 years of creative Britain, entitled Love & Money.
LFW has changed dramatically in its 26 years, at one time it was only the privileged and the big names in fashion such as the likes of Anna Wintour, who were invited and it was touch-and-go as to whether you’d get into a show, or whether your seat would turn out to be occupied by Boy George. Now ” Through bloggers and front row Tweeters, access has grown and grown,” said Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council. Now with the introduction of digital streaming the shows will become accessible to any fashion lover.
Throughout the course of LFW Live shows will be streamed on the LFW website, while the Digital Space will showcase fashion films from designers throughout the week. Designers including LP.BG, Danielle Scutt and Craig Lawrence used the British Fashion Councils FC screen to showcase their autumn/winter 2010-11 collection.
To view the schedule for the upcoming digital shows click the link below
http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/digitalschedule
Feb 12
There are not many designers in any generation with the ability to do what McQueen did, which is marry epic imagination with mind-blowing technical skill. He was a designer with an eye to what was next.
What will be forever synonymous with the name Alexander McQueen was his inability to compromise on anything. His collections repeatedly showed exquisite tailoring, paired with feminine romance and wearability with the cutting edge of high fashion. It was enviable assemblage that has emblazoned the name of Alexander McQueen into any self-respecting Fashionistas consciousness over the past 15 years.
Since his graduation show from St. Martins in 1995 he soared to the dizzying heights of haute couture world. What was the secret of his success? Well, as alexandermcqueen.com so perfectly described, it is the blend of these things: ‘Fragility and strength, tradition and modernity and fluidity and severity.’
Take, for example, McQueen’s Autumn/Winter 2006 runway show, entitled ‘The Widows of Culloden’. McQueen here was taking inspiration from his own heritage, referencing the infamous and bloody battle fought at Culloden in Scotland. Fiercely political and emotionally raw, it set the stage perfectly as the collection that really made McQueen’s name. It was a very British affair and one that had a message; that perhaps the medium of fashion that was once thought of as vapid could have something relevant and poignant to say about a nation’s history and people.
It is perhaps because of McQueen’s strong political statements in his shows that earned him the title of the perennial bad boy of British fashion. Indeed you only need to glance at his most recent collection to see this.
McQueen’s brand of fashion was playful, confrontational and unforgettable; it is one that took you by the scruff of the neck, made sure you looked it in the eye, and once you’d seen it, you would not want to stop looking.
R.I.P Alexander Lee McQueen 1969 – 2010
Jan 28
Whilst reading the Guardian online this week, I came across an interesting article on the ask Hadley feature, which was entitled, Why are so many fashion trends impossible to wear if you have breasts larger than a B-cup size?
As Hadley noted, this subject has caused quite a split amongst the fashion industry. Some fashion protesters have argued that high fashion is a part of the industry that has become dominated by 20 something, size four models, who have been chosen by gay designers to make women look ‘different’, rather then attractive. It is an industry that is all about appealing to gay men.
On the other hand, designers and fashion experts claim that contrary to popular belief, this type of model and the garments she parades have been created to set an example to women; these models have been chosen to embody the ideal that women should dress for themselves and not for heterosexual males. This takes stand against claims that high fashion is a ‘cruel anti-feminine industry, in which the sole goal is to make women feel bad about themselves.’ commented Hadley.
But unfortunately as a result of the goal to achieve the perfect, empowering woman and her wardrobe, the garments that are produced for this type of breed of female don’t usually seem to fit the everyday, full figured female population. And this is why the breast issue continues.
As Hadley stated ‘part of the reason why fashion gets such a bad rap; because it is basically a private member’s club that excludes men’. Being a young female working within the industry, I and many other women do find something refreshing in the fact that most areas of the fashion industry aren’t focused upon or obsessed with breast. But the problem is that we ourselves as women are obsessed with breast, we want bigger, better, smaller, we want perfection, because we live in a breast obsessed world! Even if some individuals over a B-cup reduced down to this ‘ideal’ fashion size, the likely hood is that many would still remain unhappy as they would perceive themselves as imperfect in the eyes the rest of the world.
Unfortunately we just have to face the fact that in some cases high fashion and breast go together like a pair of Jimmy Choos with a tracksuit.
Jan 22
Dolce and Gabbana have released their latest ad campaign which features a sultry, vamped up 51-year-old Madonna. The images depict Madonna as a italian housewife in midst of her domestic chores, sweeping the floor and hiding behind some washing that she’s in the process of hanging out to dry. The ad images also show the housewife’s saucy side, when she is applying her make-up in a provocative manner and stroking a cat in an clevage amplifying, strapped corset. In another she sits crying on the edge of a bed with a half packed suitcase, seemingly ready to leave her husband and family.
Earlier in the week provocative images of Sex and the City’s Kim Cattrall were seen in numerous publications, which seemed to cause mixed reactions amongst the public. Many commented that the 53 year old Sex and the City actress was too old to be dressing in such a manner and it should be left to young women. Whilst on the other hand many were quick to praise Kim Cattrall attitude, of just because she is middle aged, it doesn’t mean she can’t give young actresses and models a run for their money. I imagine that Madonna’s sexed up Dolce and Gabbana campaign may lead to the same debates, which I’m sure will prove to be no skin off Madonna’s nose she has built her career around controversy and shock tactics.
I personally think it’s great that both stars have the confidence to star in such risque shoots at 50years+. I don’t blame them one bit, I’m sure if we all looked in our 30’s at 50+, we would all be doing the same. As long as the shots are not offensive and shot in a tasteful manner then I don’t see the problem.
In both shoots the images have captured both Madonna’s and Kim Cattrall’s femininity and sensuality, showing they are powerful, desirable, naturally beautiful women. I say fashion vamps!
