So soon, so soon

I’m sorry, I never actually got round to taking any photos of different outfits for this clotheshow thing. I looked at my waredrobe and realised I have virtually no clothes, especially bottom halves. I think I may have to persuade my parents to provide me with extra money for the clotheshow so I can buy things. Of course this depends on whether there will be anything good to buy and whether it appeals to me.

I will however promise to see if I can take some photos etc of the actual catwalk show. My auntie forked out an extra £10 for the front seats, that was very nice of her (for my cousin’s birthday treat - I’m not even going to begin to explain my family), so it’ll be a better view than last year.

A visit to T.K.Maxx

I rarely see anything good in T.K.Maxx (T.J.Maxx in the US) today was no exception. Everyone knows that T.K.Maxx is one of the messiest shops around and you literally have to wade through a pile of utter crap to find anything decent. And for those who are lazy (such as myself) wading it out of the question.

My dear mother wanted to go and look at coats for herself and well, we were both bitterly disappointed. My mother proceeded to tell some random woman that I was into fashion (they had both been puzzled by this coat which said size 10 in it and it was miles too big. The sales woman said it was probably US sizing and then I had to tell them the equivalent - which is a size 14 if I am not mistaken) and then the woman decided to tell us about some shop in some place, which I’d never heard of, that sells cheap coats. I was thinking I already have a coat and please leave me alone.

Fight the fur

According to Vogue, Stella McCartney has “upped her fight against the use of fur in the fashion industry”

I say good for her! As you may know, I hate fur and why people actually like wearing it, is beyond me. Just think, it was a living breathing creature, which was deprived of a life and then killed just so you can wear it’s coat as your coat. It’s just cruel.

I can only blog about what I know

Birmingham’s latest trend - vintage boots and black tights.

I only wish I had a photo for you.

Indecisive me

With the Clothes Show Live less than a week away, I am now allowed to be a little excited. I’m not normally someone who plans what I’m going to wear (I just sort of see how the mood takes me), but I thought I would attempt to decide in advance. This is mainly due to the fact that I am staying at my friend’s house on Friday night, so I will not have much time in the morning.

Anyway, back to the original point. When deciding what to where to such events, one must take into consideration a number of things. These include, what you are going to be doing most of the time (in this case walking), what other people will be dressed like (thus you can decide whether to conform or look a little different) and your personal style (probably the most important).

In my experience of past clotheshow events (2004 and 2005), you can tell from a mile off who is there to try and be spotted. I personally think that it’s a bit ridiculous trying so hard, because if I was a scout, I would go for someone who dresses effortlessly. But hey ho, that is just my opinion. The majority of people are there to shop and therefore dress normally with maybe a bit of extra effort.

For me, I think a good look at my waredrobe is in order (which won’t take that long) before I decide. I shall however post a couple of possibilities later in the week (once I have thought of them) and then we shall see.

The art of communication

Is it just me who has a difficult time telling the hairdresser what I want? Thus ending up with something that I am not entirely satisfied with. Or is it just that they don’t listen? That would be a serious problem if they didn’t.

Teach yourself

Yesterday, I decided to have a read of one of the fashion design books I have. The ones that supposedly teach you how to draw in a design-y way. I seem to have aquired quite a few over the years from various family members. And whilst, I don’t ever put things they suggest into practice, it’s always good to learn how you are supposed to do it.

Since reading it though, I have had an overwhelming urge to design something and then ask my father to help me make it (he is WAY better than me on a sewing machine, from the many years of practice he has). It also makes me think I ought to start carrying a sketch book around (although if you start drawing on the bus, people start looking at it - they’re all nosy) to ‘capture ideas in a moment of inspiration’.

Excuses excuses

Please excuse me for the lack of updates in the next few weeks. I have mock exams starting on Wednesday (finishing on 1st December) and quite frankly, I am not prepared in the slightest!!

Let this be a lesson to me and many others, who are going to be taking exams in the future, do not leave revision until the last minute because you become stressed and have breakdowns. It is not a good state to be in. So basically no social life or fashion associated things for me in the next few weeks, what larks eh.

Observations of the day

The random things that I noticed whilst in town:

1. It really is much easier than I thought to return items to shops.

2. The entire of Birmingham’s population must have turned up on Thursday because I overheard the sales woman telling someone else that by the end of the day the entire stock of the Viktor and Rolf collection had been sold.

3. Sports world (or something similar) sells YSL. I don’t actually care about this because a- I don’t shop in sports shops and b- I don’t buy designer clothes and c- YSL doesn’t particually interest me. But it was a random observation I had.

4. Not a great deal of the yellow vintage shop’s items are great. I think it was just the initial reaction at the size of that place.

5. The stalls at the flea market are nice and mostly filled with vintage clothes and jewellery etc. I was planning to get a stall in Decemberish to sell some stuff, so I am glad I went and had a look. Also some friends of mine have a stall, which I did not know until recently, which was nice to have a look at.

6. Birmingham and especially the Bullring are brilliant at 9.30am because it is not seething with multitudes of people and it’s peaceful to walk about. Plus you don’t feel as if you are going to be robbed or anything because it’s the morning as opposed to the evening.

The time has come

So the Viktor and Rolf collection for H&M was released yesterday it seems. I have not actually seen anything (school takes up all valuable time, however it is currently illegal for me not to be there, so what can be done) as yet. Although there was a nice jumper thing in an advert I saw. I shall have to check it out tomorrow and see if it is worth all the ho-har.

Yes! It’s on the brink.

You know a trend is on the edge of dying when you see a small child dressed in it.

Footless tights that is. You know my aversion to them. This news pleases me greatly.

Clothes show is drawing nearer

I have just checked the clothes show website to see if there was any news about those competitions.

I did enter the T-shirt one in the end (it wasn’t the greatest design though because I left it to the last minute) so even though I don’t expect anything from it, I would like to know who wins it in the end (final judging is on Tuesday 5th December)

My cousin bought tickets as a birthday treat, so I am going with her two friends and her, which will be nice. She also forked out the £10 extra for platinum tickets (we’re sitting 4 rows from the front) and I am taking my camera, so hopefully some photos etc will be up for those of you who are not going. In the past 3 years I have been going, I am always wowed by the show they put on because they make it dance-y and interesting. Having said that, I haven’t ever been to any other shows, so I have no comparison really.

It’s looking good for 90

I finally located a copy of Vogue. It’s shocking how hard it was to find the December birthday issue around my area, evidently there are not many readers (doesn’t surprise me that much really). I had a skim through (which actually took a while) and it looked promising. Not that I actually read much of it, I find it a tad, quite frankly crap on occasion. But I find teen fashion magazines a bit slow and written in that ‘I’m-not a teenager-but-here-is-my-attempt-at-writing-for-you’ kind of way (that was badly described, but you get the jist). Having said that, they don’t talk about furnishings and interior and the styling is occasionally more wearable.

I don’t know what I am rambling on about. Anyhoo, I did get Vogue and from what I have flicked through, it’s good. They actually made an effort to celebrate the 90 years it’s been running.

Thin model thing again

It seems the skinny model ho-har has not died down since last time I blogged about it. Since then, I suppose my views haven’t changed in that I still think it’s a good idea that the fashion industry is attempting to change minds (they have yet to succeed though).

But it does stretch further than that really. I mean for a start, bmi (body mass index) isn’t always reliable. A friend told me that according to the bmi thing, her mother was overweight, however her mother is far from overweight, she is extremely muscley due to the amount of exercise she does. Obviously, this will not apply to everyone, but it goes to show that it’s not always accurate.

Not only that, but doctors also make it worse (probably due to the images we’re all bombarded with). Like today, apparently this doctor told my mother that she is overweight, which is all very well because she may well be. But my mother is more of an anorexic than me and I’m 15! This is not good because it means she will eat even less than she does now (she eats hardly anything as it is) and this will put even more of a strain on her heart. Plus, it is difficult to persuade someone with a slightly anorexic personality (she isn’t actually anorexic may I please say) that they are OK. And if they really want to become fitter, then exercise more and eat more often (healthily of course).

I think that was a rather pointless rant. But my point basically was, it takes more than taking skinny sticks off catwalks to change the view of a whole generation.

Mrs Beckham writing?!!

It makes me laugh that Victoria Beckham has written a book… on style.
There is a rather amusing article on the Telegraph website.

Ghost writer or has she actually written it?

Regardless, who wants to look orange with a ‘career’ (although I did like the spice girls when they were around- I was 4) down the pan and a quite frankly rather crap dress sense.