The secret weapon

From my non-posting this week, you can probably tell that I am either a) feeling uninspired or b) a bit busy. Actually, I’m feeling a bit of both, but we shalln’t dwell on that.

I find that with clothes, you have to feel inspired because otherwise it just doesn’t work. At least that’s the case with me. I think that is why I’ve been having so much trouble with buying items lately - I just have no clue what I want to wear, no direction, no ideas. I’m going to blame the fact that I’m a teenager and no matter how much everyone else seems to think they have “found themselves”, it’s just not the case at 16. Of course, this sort of enlightenment helps when it comes to style. Some may think fashion to be frivolous, but in my opinion, it has the power to express you in so many ways.

My enthusiasm has unfortunately been going a bit downhill of late, but I find that one of the few ways to keep it up is to look at how other people are wearing it. Street style blogs, such as The Sartorialist or The Style Scout (there are of course many many others as well), flickr group Waredrobe Remix (which I really ought to get round and contribute to) and even posts on other blogs demonstrating personal style, are all brilliant places to find things like this. I think that fashion is what normal people make of it.

And that is what I love so much about it - there may be trends which probably will have passed by the time you have one sock on, but the ability to put your own spin on things means that anything is possible.

Ethical fashion - Primark scores just 2.5

I apologise for not updating over this weekend. I’ve been avoiding the computer until I finished Harry Potter. I visited London on Saturday, which was quite nice. I’d forgotten just how busy it is (I was about 12 last time I went). Unfortunately, I didn’t take many photographs because the weather was horrid and I feared getting my camera out & being robbed. Maybe next time.

I was speaking to my friend on the phone yesterday and we got onto the subject of clothing & how awful shops are nowadays. We eventually got round to Primark - the shop many love (I personally hate it and have never purchased anything from there) and how, in order to produce clothing for such low prices, their ethics must be compromised somewhere. My friend mentioned she had seen an article in the newspaper (this independent article I think) on how little they paid workers and other such things.

Ethical Consumer, in its January/February edition published next week, criticised the company for not having a code of conduct, selling leather goods and “environmentally-damaging” PVC products and for operating in an oppressive regime - China.

“If people shop in Primark because the prices are low then they must be aware that they are low for a reason,” said Ruth Rosselson, a spokeswoman for Ethical Consumer. “And they must start asking questions: ‘Where is this made? How do I know that this was made under good conditions?’ Then the companies will realise that people care.”

The magazine suggests shoppers buy from charity shops, try vintage clothing and seek out organic cotton. Conventionally farmed cotton is treated with 10 per cent of the world’s pesticides, which the Pesticide Action Network estimates causes 20,000 deaths in the Third World every year.

It must be said, I love a bargain as much as the next person, but honestly, I’d much rather fork out for something that has been produced ethically than spend far less on something that is not. It is one of the few fashion “avoid if you can” things I have (fur being in a similar category). I mean of course, this is difficult because I’m certain pretty much every high street retailer has the downfall of being unethical in some respect.

However, since we are the consumers, the power to change minds rests with us. It’s just a matter of whether we use it to alert retailers to the fact that we don’t agree with what they do to make our clothes. I mean not only does everything look similar in shops, they’re probably produced in the same way was well - cheap materials which won’t last, appalling conditions and sweatshop labour. Everyone knows it, but how much longer must we turn a blind eye?

Things I haven’t done in a while

• Looked at Foto Decadent
• Randomly browsed different blogs
• Done a diy project (sewing, knitting etc)
• Bought & read a magazine
• Had a haircut
• Purchased an item of clothing/accessory/pair of shoes
• Posted something of vague use on here

The list probably goes on. I have however, helped redo the bathrooms in my house and made some caramel squares (which were very tasty). Such is life.

Oh my

Finally, after absolutely AGES, I went into Birmingham to have a (semi) shopping session. I don’t think it could be classed as even a semi-shop since I bought nothing and was impressed by nothing.

Really, what has happened to shops? They all sell the same absolute rubbish. It’s so dull. Maybe it’s just me, but the introduction of the high street made everything so similar. So plain and un-inspirational. Not only that, but for what it actually is, prices are far too steep.

It actually disheartens me slightly. Which is not good considering I’m already lacking inspiration at the moment. Maybe I ought to go for a bit of a hunt in some charity & vintage shops (thrifting is the term) to get my spirits up rather than rambling at the few that read the blog.

I started this trend

Being away from blogging, fashion and life in general for so long creates problems when you return. It’s hard to get back into the swing of it especially seeing as I am feeling very uninspired lately.

I will however say that it did amuse me when I saw this T-shirt (pictured right) on Topshop. The slogan reads “I started this trend” which I find rather ironic because obviously they didn’t.

In fact, this latest trend for oversized writing on t-shirts was made popular by everyone’s lusting after the House of Holland t-shirts (such as that pictured left). Personally, I’m not attacted to any of these t-shirts because I do not find large writing appealing on a T-shirt, but hey ho, that’s just me.

In fact, if you think about it these large writing T-shirts aren’t a new concept and if I had to wear a T-shirt with oversized writing, give me one with a political message such as Katherine Hamnett’s designs.

Hell, with present day political situations, I’m sure some amusing slogans could be thought up.

Images from Topshop or Google

Designers meet technology

So as many celebrites are trying their hand at fashion design, the designers are moving toward technology.

I’m sure everyone knows about the Prada/LG mobile phone by now. I was reading the fortnightly Computer Active my auntie gets today and it had a short review of the phone.

The only thing that really bugged me was this bit - ”For dedicated followers of fashion, there’ll be no cooler mobile than the LG Prada till Apple’s iPhone arrives in the autumn.”

Now, I won’t go as far as to say I was a dedicated follower of fashion, but I do follow fashion and personally I wouldn’t get the phone. It just doesn’t appeal to me. I mean, there is a nice big screen, which would be handy, but I just think it’s not a hugely attractive phone. Anyway, I’m not going to go off on a rant because I’m sure it will appeal to many fashion followers.

Photo from carphone warehouse

Fashion IS for everyone

As I was having my rare browse of different (fashion) blogs (involves clicking links from one blog to another), I came across Too Fat for Fashion. I firmly believe that fashion can be for everyone and the blog demonstrated this perfectly.

Recently, much of the British press have been going on and contributing to the size 0 debate (something that I’ve written about in the past). Whilst they may go on about how awful it is that all these models are so skinny (which they are - and in my view size 8 is still a bit thin for someone who is as tall as models are), I do think that not many of them would not like to see the clothes modeled by models of larger sizes. It is extrememly hypocritical, but unfortunately that is the world. I know very few people who stick to what they believe in or are saying and it’s such a breath of fresh air when people do.

I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of the Gossip. I don’t particularly like the music and I don’t particularly think they are ‘cool’ (inverted commas because this is only what I think is cool), but after seeing the article on Too fat for fashion, it has made me think power to Beth! Many shops do not cater to plus sizes and whilst I am not plus sized, I still view it as a downfall. Just because someone isn’t thin, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to enjoy fashion. It baffles me because it misses out a huge section of the market, so it was really enlightening to see that she also took a stand and didn’t just cash in like I’m sure many other people out there would probably to.

“Nu-rave” - why must it be spelt like that?

“Nu-rave” a craze that’s been going around the UK for a couple of months now (this is a long overdue post I think). I describe it as a craze because it can’t really be described as much else, it’s a mainstream craze, nothing more to it really. Glow-sticks, brightly coloured clothing and “nu-rave” music is basically what’s involved.

Typical “nu-rave” bands include the Klaxons and apparently the New Young Pony Club. I’m not a big fan of the Klaxons, but on the whole I don’t mind the music. Mostly because recently I have been listening to more ‘beaty’ things (electro I suppose - introduced to me by my good friend, who was introduced to it by the Mighty Boosh) and so “nu-rave” is kind of falling into the category (on wikipedia, it was classed as “a style of music fusing elements of electronic dance music and rock”)

Now I come to the ‘look’ of “nu-rave” folks. On the tv last weekend, I heard it described as “looking in the mirror and thinking, yep I look like an idiot”. I’m sure many people have bought straight into it - it’s not exactly hard with high street brands such as Topshop having a whole collection dedicated to the trend (’POP’, which I blogged about a while ago); Entire magazines such as POP also just on this one topic (I actually forked out the £5 for that issue and I didn’t particularly think it worth the money); tv programmes such as Skins featuring “nu-rave” people (made me laugh, especially the hoodie with the flouresant pink “TWAT” written on the back).

You’d think that I would completely hate it because I pretty much hate anything that is an obvious trend. Yet honestly, I’m a bit undecided about it. On the one hand, I’m not about to go and start dressing head-to-toe in “nu-rave” style clothing, because I have my style, yet elements of the style do appeal to me. I mean, I have some bright blue tights from a couple of years ago which I do love. People who claim to be “nu-rave” or “electro” and solely that do annoy me, because personally I like to have more than one interest and element influencing me, variety is the key. It’s tricky really, I don’t buy into mainstream trends simply because I know that 6 months down the line, it’ll be obsolete and kind of pointless and quite honestly I don’t really care about being classed as ‘cool’ or ‘trendy’ for those few months. It’s a strange concept really - how can someone love fashion, but not be willing to love trends. To a certain point, everyone, be they fashion followers or not, are influenced by trends and the catwalk, because the ideas are taken and turned into something more wearable for consumers to purchase at a shop. “Nu-rave” is something that’s around, but I think it’s something that ought to be taken with a pinch of salt. Fair enough if you’ve been into “nu-rave” before it became a mainstream phenomenon, but I just think that for those of us who haven’t, you kind of risk looking like a sheep really - you know, just getting swept up into the hype.

Newspaper ideas

Oh dear, artwork seems to have consumed my life for the past week. Deadlines are looming, what can I say. But as I was covering a frame in newspaper for a silk painting I’d done, it got me thinking…

I’m sure it’s been done, but a newspaper print dress type thing. I mean, making a dress out of actual newspapers, would not be durable and would fall apart the minute you went anywhere in it (especially if it was raining), but there are fancy machines now which allow you to print different things on fabric so they look like what they’re meant to look like. So you could have a dress made out of normal fabric with a newspaper collage on it, so it appeared to be made out of newspapers. Maybe I just have an odd mind and dress sense, but I’d wear it (of course it’d depend on the style of the dress, but what I am imagining, I’d wear)

Photo from Google

Hello my children

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.

Orange County returns to our screens

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).

Braces & glasses do not equal ugly!

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.

Is it vintage?

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.

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.