This photo on the sartorialist makes me wish that I could get away with riding a bicycle about town. Sadly, as my friend pointed out, we’d probably get beaten up because people in this area would deem it ‘uncool’ (contrary to how this sounds, it’s not because it’s a rough area, quite the opposite in fact). Ahh well, I’d be on my bike, so they’d have to catch me first haha!
As promised, I continue to blog about the ss07 haute couture collections featured on Vogue. Don’t take everything I say literally, mostly I am just rambling on. Designers are not my domain to be quite honest. However, I will commence with the blogging.
Today, it’s the turn of Dior:
The collection is completely unwearable. If you can actually think of a location in which to wear one of these dresses, I will give you a gold star. However, despite lacking the wearing factor, it is a fairly stunning collection and I am quite amazed (maybe because of my lack of fashion exposure, who knows).
It’s so extravagant and elaborate, yet not to the point where it makes your mind jump out of your body screaming “arrgh I’ll never be able to think up something like that” It’s inspirational, especially now that I have to start thinking about what I want my ‘prom’ dress (inverted commas because I detest the prom that has been organised and I think it’ll be a pile of tolly-wash. But, I have bought my ticket now and I shall attend this prom; which seems to be sweeping the nation having migrated to the UK) to look like.
I know that wearing something such as these dresses is simply out of the question. Not only because everyone would look at you like you are some kind of weirdo (having said that, because I am making it, it may be more like “WOW, you made that?!” Alas, my sewing skills do not stretch this far) through jealous eyes (which girl wouldn’t be envious if someone else at their prom was wearing a dior couture dress?), it’s slightly impractical for wearing in real life. Plus, the models wearing the dresses are thin and tall, thus making them ‘hang’ and drape more effectively.
It even makes me regain my interest in becoming a designer or working in fashion (I’ve been going off the idea recently). What more can I say really? It is a pretty nice collection and one which someone of no authority (such as myself) can appreciate to some degree.
All photos from Vogue
With the cold snap just hitting the UK, I find it rather illogical to look at spring/summer 07 collections. However, whilst browsing Vogue, I couldn’t resist a peek at the ss07 Couture collections. Needless to say, my mind was amazed. And I’m not one to follow designers. (click the photos for larger images)
First off, Chanel:
My first impression was that it was very mod/60s inspired. Gotta love the mods I say.
I also rather liked this idea of wearing a bow as a necklace. One reminded me of a large bow tie and the other was some tied ribbon. Regardless, this struck me as a nice and simple twist that could be applied to any outfit. Of course, I would not spend obscene amounts of money on such a thing - quite simply purchasing a bit of ribbon would do the trick.
Then there were the LBDs.
Finally, there were the dresses. I quite liked the drop waist thing that was going on with some of them. And the floaty-ness that many of the dresses seemed to have.
Now, I think for this blog, that is fashion overload. So in the next post, I’ll cover some of the other collections (Dior, Givenchy etc). I think that I’ll keep them more brief (except Dior which is quite literally oh-my-giddy-gosh-my-mind-is-going-to-melt-from-the-wowness-that-is. Well, that’s what I thought anyway) and pick out only what I think is the best.
All photos from Vogue
I’ve noticed that this blog often gets the visitors from the strangest search terms. I mean today, I apparently had 3 visitors come to the blog through searching “what shoes should I wear with my pinafore” (my answer to that would be it depended on the pinafore. I’d probably go for simple flats because I am flats girl, but I’m sure it’d look equally good with heels). Just to clear up, I have no objections with this at all. Also, since I am on the topic of visitors, how many of you actually came from the myspazzy of mine? (which is now deleted may I add)
My apologies to you if you haven’t found anything useful on here (I’m not surprised, half the time it’s my rants and raves, which doesn’t benefit many really). Hopefully something of use will be posted soon. It’s not even useful me saying that over and over again - I’ll stop now.
I am alive, despite not blogging on here in about a week or something similar. What can I say, with so little time and money, my ability to shop has deteriorated. This in turn means any fashion material I have in my little brain cell, has vanished. Instead, it is being used to complete the 5 month late physics coursework, textiles, art and think about my future - what fun.
It actually makes me quite sad that I have lost the ability to shop (for clothes). Instead of going into a shop and thinking “Ooohhh! I want that, only £15″, I think “Hmm, that’s quite nice, how much is it, £15. No way, I could make that! What a rip off.” Of course, I will never actually get round to making it, which leaves me with a slight predicament.
What I have decided to do in the mean time, is to concentrate on actually making some things. I purchased a book called Stitch and Bitch on Friday (I already know how to knit) and it had a couple of nice things in it really. So on Saturday, when I went to town with Mary, I purchased about 2 carrier bags of wool (technically, it was acrylic not wool, but nonetheless, I call it all wool) from the market (came to under £10, I was very impressed).
Anyway, since I have come to a bit of a fashion stand-still currently, I thought there might be someone else who’d be interested in contributing to this blog on occasion (I will of course still be posting etc). I did ask around my friends and had one person who was interested, but it doesn’t hurt to see if anyone else is interested. So, if you enjoy fashion and are interested in possibly contributing, either leave a comment on this post or email me, leah@coralstars.com. Tell me a little about yourself and any ideas of what you may want to write about.
Now I am signing off to continue with this flaming coursework. In a bit kiddies.
Please excuse my lack of updates in the past few weeks (and coming weeks). I know it’s no excuse, but I’ve got loads of coursework to catch up on at school because all my deadlines are around February. Thus giving me no time to venture into the world of fashion. I’ll try to keep some posts coming, but it just won’t be as often. I really am sorry about this. Hopefully, everything will be back to normal soon. (Possibly with the addition of another writer)
Sequels are never as good as the original. This applies to films (exception of a few) and also to Project Catwalk 2. Okay, take this with a pinch of salt because I’ve only seen the first episode, but I was not impressed at all.
Where do I start really? Kelly Osbourne - the new presenter (replaced Elizabeth Hurley) - that’s a good place. I have absolutely nothing wrong with her, she’s not the first person who’d spring to my mind when it comes to fashion, but she’s not an awful choice. It’s just that, Kelly Osbourne seems to have a lot of personality and on the show, she just seems bland. It’s as if they are making her fill the shoes of Elizabeth Hurley, the way she is speaking, what she is saying etc. 
You notice it more in the title sequence, because the strange smile thing and the words don’t seem right. As I said before, Kelly is not an awful choice, I just wish they’d let it be more natural sounding and let her personality shine through a bit more. Maybe they do later in the series, I don’t know, but that first episode, she really irritated me.
Next thing - the designers! Good god, I’m sure they’re all lovely people, but it was all crap. Of course, taking into account what they had to work with was utter crap also, it’s hardly surprising. Generally, quite an appauling challenge, so I do feel for them. But I still thought everything made wasn’t good at all. I won’t comment on what I think of them as people because a) I don’t know them personally and b) I haven’t seen what anyone is like yet because it is only the first episode.
So far, it’s not nearly as good as the first series. It just seems to have lost it’s edge almost. I mean, whenever I watched the first series, I was always inspired to want to make something myself, regardless of the episode. Episode 1 of series 2 however, did not make me want to do anything of the sort. Possibly because I did not think many of them seemed particularly cool and nothing created was great and I have been disappointed by everything recently. I don’t know. I suppose it’s just because series 1 was such a big hit, that expectations are high for this and now, it’s not quite matching up. I suppose the rest of the series will have to be watched before coming to a full blown conclusion.
(photos from sky)
(photo from google)
Neon - a trend which I’ve been noticing for a while now! What can I say, I’m not surprised and I love it! Loads of clothes have been really dull recently, I love grey as much as the next person, but after a while it gets tedious. With dull weather, who needs a dull waredrobe as well?!
Topshop has a new line called POP - which has ‘neon’ clothing (inverted commas, because in my opinion it’s not bright enough).
(photos from topshop) Okay, so some of that I may not wear (partly because it’s really quite expensive and not nearly neon enough) but, it’s still quite nice. The other big high street brand, H&M also seem to have some decentish stuff in their spring/summer07 collection. Which is good because I have been really disappointed with h&m recently (and topshop come to think of it). Some being brightly coloured yay!
Sorry, seemed to go off the original neon topic there. Back to it: I personally quite like neon, probably because I have been liking this electro vibe (CSS, Ladytron, Robots in Disguise etc) recently, which my friends and many other ‘indie kids’ have also been experiencing I think. The only question remaining is, is neon suited to everyone? My answer is why not?!
The 4th series of the OC begins today on E4. I wouldn’t go as far to say that I am excited, but I am wondering what is going to happen to them all since Marissa was killed (this is what soaps do to you). It’s a show that may bore or irritate some people, but regardless it is popular and I am one of those who like it.
You could argue that it has nothing to do with fashion and it’s about teen life, but as fashion/style/music etc (all of which relate in some form) are a big part of teen life, it does have quite a bit to do with fashion (thus I post this short entry in which I ramble about the meaning of x, y and z or something equally similar).
The pilot episode of Ugly Betty showed on Channel 4 today. And I did in fact watch it.
From the mild hype built up around it, I did in fact think it was going be to really funny (”Ugly Betty - the hit US comedy” were the types of things being said) but I didn’t find it really hilarious (I have an odd sense of humour though. Things like the Mighty Boosh and the IT crowd amuse me… okay, not that odd, but slightly odd)
Despite not thinking it really funny (it was quite amusing in parts), I did think that it was quite good. The characters were probably exaggerated a bit, but in my opinion, they could be related to. I found myself understanding Betty - probably because I wear glasses and have braces and have felt humilation because of appearance before (nothing to do with the glasses and braces thing, it’s just what you get from an all girls’ school) - I won’t lie, I actually had damp eyes when they were all laughing at her (sad I know and I’m not normally a crier)! I quite liked the fact that she actually looks quite pretty because it is essentially taking the michael out of this stereotype she is portraying. With this recent thing of everyone being paranoid about skinny models painting the wrong ideal of beauty, this is again possibly tackling the perceptions of what makes someone beautiful.
The plot reminded me a bit of the Devil Wears Prada in that it’s a fashion magazine, the main character is the editor’s assistant and not a fashion follower. It was quite well done and the story was alright also. I suppose I have only seen the pilot episode, so I can’t come to a full conclusion until seeing more of the series. But on first impression, not cracking-my-sides-with-laughter material, but generally, quite a good programme.
Recently, I was pondering what exactly is vintage clothing. I know that it’s basically old clothes, but I mean who actually says “yeah that’s vintage” and “no, that’s just old crap”. According to wikipedia, generally, it’s clothing over 25 years old - fair enough, that seems about right.
But then, if you are on the prowl for vintage garments, isn’t it better to go charity shop trailing rather than going to a vintage shop, to buy clothes originally from said charity shop, at a marked up price. It’s easier to go somewhere where someone has already purchased things, claimed they are vintage and is selling them in one place, I know and for the lazier out there, this is the preferable solution (this is me - although to be fair, there’s only one charity shop in Birmingham city centre and I dislike roaming around Sutton on a Saturday because it’s infested with mini chavs)
I’m not being negative about vintage shops - I do love vintage shops. But it struck me the other day (whilst trailing around a vintage shop incidentally) that half the things in the place were from a charity shop. Obvious I know and had realised this before, but more so the other day (I think it was shopping on my own-some that did it). I don’t quite know what I am trying to get at in this ramble, but I just wanted to ponder it. I mean, vintage is basically a trend really (although the actual garments defy trends in effect because they are so old that they don’t follow current trends - I think this is one of the appeals of vintage) and when I told my auntie that things from the 80s can be considered vintage, she was shocked (because the 80s/90s were her eras).
Some people hate the idea of vintage (more so with Asians I find - this is why I am abnormal) - the idea of wearing someone else’s old clothes (someone even once said to me “but you could be wearing a dead person’s clothes”), they’d much rather have some that isn’t preowned. I can understand this view, but I personally prefer to mix it all up - bit of vintage, bit of high street, bit of diy/customised (designer is way out of my £10/week budget though), you get the drift. I think someone with good style (not saying myself because I am yet to develop my style being a humble teenager) is able to utilise any available resources (be it vintage, diy or designer) to create a look that is truly them.
Personally, I still have a division between “vintage” and “old” and the way to differentiate is to ask the question - would I wear this? And would I wear it in a new and updated way?
*Edit* Blimey, that was a long post - haha, it’ll make up for my lack of postings this week.
