New Layout coming soon

So i have had a lovely little break for easter got to see my dad, had my first trip to essex and went home to leicester for a few days to catch up with some old friends! So all in all i had a really nice time. I got back to my house in Chatham yesterday and to my joy the sun outside is shining brightly so in pure english style me and a couple of friends are going to wack a BBQ out later! fun times! 

Anyway the main reason im posting is to show a little something im working on! I'm not really a fan of the layout to my blog i feel it needs to me more personalised and fitting to my style so in the next week i hope to have a whole new look! To the left is an idea for the header... hopefully ill have it all done by the end of the week!  

Easter

So its the start of the easter holidays, day one, and I'm already bored out my mind! Right now I'm in the living room with only mice to keep me company! I have managed to spend the first day off with a hangover, i wish i could say it was worth it for a good night but it really wasn't. I think I'm going to invent an easter resolution, and mine is to not drink. ever again. I thought i was going to be on my own this weekend but my dad has come to my rescue and is taking me to his in-laws for wine and chinese. or as my new resolution kinda gets in the way of that ill just say chinese. So after i have a little break and some fun monday I'm gonna get a load of work done so i can post up some progress on the beloved blog! but for now...

HAPPY EASTER AND ALL THAT XXX

TOPSHOP fashion targets breast cancer

I'm proper loving the new Target tee by Topshop!! Its for a cause i feel very strongly about and its totally me!! loving the Op-Art inspired feel to it! i Know what I'm buying next and it goes to a good cause!!! Watch the Promo Vid HERE.

Oohhh

I FINISHED MY ESSAYYYYYY

I'm on a relentless overload right now. 

ESSAY

Is going to kill me today. got to hand in tomorrow. not looking forward to it. I don't think fashion students should have to do a dissertation. eurghhh. On the bright side i should be getting the pics from the shoot back today so i will be able to post some up online tonight! woop! 

The Black Widow

I had to make the jacket in this black fabric for a project. Didn't turn out to great. I'm gonna alter the design and make it into a caplet type thing maybe change the collar and make it in leather!!

But for now heres a few pics of the garment at this stage...

Was such a bitch to sew!!!

Jean Pierre Braganza

Today at uni we were given a lecture by designer Jean Pierre Braganza, he used to tutor at 3rd year untill just last year he had to leave which was quite disappointing, but we were lucky to get a lecture with him today which has to be my favorite lecture of the year! I love his work and found his lecture really inspiring and interesting, its great to hear about the industry from someone who really does live it. Of course like every designer and lecturer he made it very clear how stressful, draining, and he used the term heart breaking a lot, it is to run your own label! For some reason its the stress and manic schedule of the industry that appeals to me and excites me the most! the feeling that you can get out of that is worth it all in the end. It does make me laugh when people are constantly mocking fashion courses and the design industry, a few favorite smug comments, "Fashion? thats not a real course", "So what do you actually want to do then? just be a famous fashion designer" their is nothing more patronizing or annoying than when people ask me those questions. Fashion is not just a doss it is not glamorous in the slightest that is all just a front, yeah their maybe parties, celebs and shows but that is just a tiny part of it. The work that goes into making a collection and a business is never ending their is always more work that could be done. I think it all depends on how much love and passion you have for it which determines how much you will be able to take which then determines how successful you are, along with knowing the right people of course!!! Which could seem unfair but thats life you wont get anywhere if you can't network. After all its not about what you know its about WHO you know!

Anyway i need to get on and do some work. Time to start draping! 

The toile...

So here are a few pictures of the completed toile as promised yesterday, excuse my messy bedroom in the background. Its impossible to keep tidy when doing work...

Front

Side

Back

It was pretty difficult to sew together as there are a lot of corners and points running into one another so i had to be very careful and precise on the machine! The sleeves, collar, and the pieces that kinda stick out on the back and at the bottom on the sides were all interfaced so they stand well. I have made this in final fabric for a project their were a few problems which need resolving but ill post pictures soon! My next plan though is to use the top of the garment to make a leather caplet type garment! I'm going to add buckled straps to thr front across the chest and some to the back which will come out from the bottom of the sleeves to hold its shape! As soon as i have money that is what i will be doing! hope you like! 

The Making of the 'Black Widow' Jacket

I love using paper on the stand to come up with cuts for garments now, you can explore a lot more faster and cheaper! here are some pics of the process i went through to create my jacket that i like to call the 'Black Widow' 

I created a technique piecing triangles and rectangles together and just played around on the stand!!

I added things and took them away taking pictures as i went along so i could easily go back to a idea! 

I started to fill any gaps that i could create other shapes with out of calico by pinning and tracing it off on the stand.

Sticking with the main features i liked i placed on style lines ready to drape the rest of the garment. 

Once id marked on the rest of the style lines i was able to trace them off in calico and take patterns from them and the paper shapes i had created ready to cut out in calico to make my toile!

I'll post pictures of the toile tomorrow! 

Courtney and Kurt shoot for LOLITA magazine!

Lolita is a fashion magazine that is being put together by a group of Fashion Promotion students from UCA Rochester! Over the past week my housemate Naomi and i have been planning a shoot to be featured in the magazine! We were given the brief to create a shoot inspired by Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain and their young love for each other! 

After a few different ideas and directions we decieded to use our house in the end and shoot in a bedroom, the living room and our garden! It took a while to set up the different scenes so it didnt look like we'd just done it in our house as a last resort but after a few different attempts we got it looking right and setting the right mood! We gathered a load of clothing together and sorted out some different looks ready the night before and hung them on Naomi's rail that she had bought from Argos a few days before to use for shoots...

...turns out it was cheap for a reason!! 

Our lovely models arrived early yesterday morning ready to get the hair and make up done by myself and Naomi once we had them looking hott we got straight down to a long day of shooting! We got a lot of cool shots so we are now just waiting for the images back off of our Photographer Ryan ready to send to the girls at LOLITA! Can't wait to see them! I will post up the best ones once i have received them! 

You can check out my housemate Naomi's blog HERE.