Pulp Fiction at the Savoy

 

I recently have been going to a tiny independent cinema in Nottingham just a few minutes from town. Its like something out of a film, its slightly creepy however its only £2 for a student on a Wednesday.
I looked on their website and saw a charity event which is £4 tonight where they are screening Pulp Fiction, as my flat mate is somewhat of a Quentin Tarantino fan we've decided to go.
Everyone keeps telling me that I will find inspiration in unlikely places such as film and music compared to looking through fashion magazines, so tonight hopefully that will be the case.

 

 

Shoe Clips Craze

I've recently seen a section in Look Magazine about Shoe Clips, these pretty little accessories clip onto the front of your pumps or the side of your books to jazz them up. I saw a lady during the week with some, I tried to slyly take a picture of them which proved difficult as she was walking. Not one of my smartest ideas but the point is I'd really like a pair myself.

Go to - www.cleob.com

It's not splashing out I swear.

I have to say at the start of the year I was finding living on a student budget quite a challenge as before my pay checks would be used for clothes and shoes etc. Where as now it has to go on boring things like washing up liquid and cereal.

However I am trying to adapt to the ways of student living by finding myself little treats here and there (which is basically something cheap that I can justify spending some money on)  So far I have found these beauties...

I had been practically drooling at the window of Accessorise and Monsoon looking at these beautiful beaded bags until I took a little trip to Primark and found this cheap alternative for Christmas time for just £10.

 

 

I'm also a bit of a fiend for velvet so it was like all my Christmases coming together when I found the following...

 

 

 

These emerald green patterned leggings are perfect for the cold and are really eye catching, I'm hoping in a good way. The best things about these however is that they cost me a mere £3 Yes, three squids, which is hardly a dent in the bank account. I saw them in a market in The Victoria Centre in Nottingham and I've been wearing them at every chance I have to get in the festive spirit.

I also found this when I went to the Urban Outfitters shop opening in Nottingham. It was a pack of two for £6,  so £3 each, which I decided to split with my flat mate. More Velvet!

In the same market shop that I found the pretty leggings I also found this faux leather gold embroidered skater skirt. I wasn't sure if I could pull of the leather skirt look however I feel the embroidery gives it a feminine edge and more my style. Again I'm really pleased with this as its perfect for with a pair of tights and a jumper now its getting colder. Again the icing on the cake was that it was only £7. Happy Nicole.

Its needless to say that studs are the bee's knees and that really sold these wedges to me. I found them in the New Look sale for just £15, they are so easy to walk in and really jazz up a plain outfit.

Alexa Chung - 'IT'

 

 

I've just seen Alexa Chung's book 'IT' advertised in Look magazine. I've researched her previously and she really is an inspiration. This ones definitely been added to the Christmas list! I'm sure I'll post up my thoughts once I've had a read.

Its going to look very pretty indeed on my bookshelf.

 

That reminds me, I'd also like a pair of these please as the bookshelf grows in size...

 

 

 

Please and Thank you

                                                                                 x

 

Anyone else unashamedly cold?

 

I'm loving the 10 Denier tights trend at the moment. There dark enough to make your legs look all smooth but light enough that you don't look like your about to go to the office.

However my issue is with the timing of this trend. Whose idea was it to make the thinnest tights fashionable when its absolutely freezing outside!

 

I know what they say though, Pain is beauty and these below are beauties. I'm a bit of a yanker with tights and they rarely last beyond one wear when there so thin however these have lasted well over 3 weeks! That's a new record for me.

 

                                      Go To -  Pretty Polly Tights at House Of Frazer

Guest Lecturer - Greg Stogdon : Burberry

Greg Stogdon is the Vice President, Creative Media at Burberry; Director of Creative Services at Burberry. We were Lucky enough to have Si Beales organise a Q & A with the man himself to give us students of Fashion Communication and Promotion an insight to the company's workings and how he managed to reach where he is today in his career being a former Fashion Communication and Promotion student himself at St. Martins.

Firstly I wasn't expecting his temperament to be as it was, I was expecting a more formal, even intimidating character due his position being so high in such a prestigious designer brand, however I found him to be humorous, down to earth and insightful.

 

Burberry was founded in 1856 and is very much so a heritage brand who centre their ethos around how the company started - designing and manufacturing trench coats. Greg explained that Burberry own the process right from the cotton seed to the making of the Trench in Yorkshire. He also expressed how the company is very organic with their approach and promotion strategy's, they rarely look at what other company's are doing but instead gather inspiration from the past and other walks of life.

 

Greg explained that he was always very art orientated and had never really considered fashion as a route for him until he attended a talk by Paul Smith where he realised that he had a passion for it. A little further down his career Greg actually approached Paul Smith for funding for his first independent magazine 'Put' a magazine centred around golf which was a huge hit amongst the public.

 

Greg then went on to writing to Burberry and sending his portfolio to inquire about working with them. I realise that this takes perseverance and determination which I admire. He explained that he is proud to work in the company as the company is about protecting people, he said that there are no big egos and that everyone is free to speak about their ideas. I found this surprising for such a large designer brand that has had so much success.

 

The highlight for me was watching the Video of Burberrys Catwalk Show in Beijing. Holographic technology was used throughout to give the show a magical angle. You are un able to tell which are the real models walking the catwalk and which are holograms. I think the whole lecture theatre took a gasp of air when he said that there was no rehearsal but instead they just went for it.

 

Have a look for yourself.

 

                                                 

 

 

Bill Cunningham

'The best fashion show is definitely on the street. Always has been, and always will be'

 

 

 

Bill Cunningham is definitely an inspiration after watching his film. He wasn't sacred of rejection when photographing street style and his dedication was obvious throughout. I was shocked to see that such a successful photographer was so regular and normal, he seemed uninterested about being in the lime light or accumulating vast amounts of money for his work which I think adds to his appeal as a figure for inspiration as he is so different from other photographers in the same industry.

 

I liked that the film had a personal edge to it and that we were able to gain insight about his friends and family however it also made the film very emotional.

Urban Outfitters Shop Opening, Nottingham 14/11/13

 

 

I decided to go to the Store opening for Urban Outfitters in Nottingham. I've just moved from London to Nottingham so there's been multiple Urban Outfitters near me so I was hoping to see if this one compared and I have to say its one of the best branches I've been in. For starters its huge, there's and up and downstairs decorated in odd artwork in true urban outfitters style. I managed to get myself a cheeky poster as well as a tote bag, a pretty interesting zine and free beer.

 

 

As expected the Queue to get into the store went around the corner... 

 

There was a chance to win a £500 store voucher if your name was pulled if you could smash the paper 'piñatas' . In terms of marketing and communications, the form that you had to fill in to be in with a chance to get picked asked for your name, date of birth, email, address, age, gender. This meant they were able to acquire a ridiculous amount of data as everyone wanted a chance at playing. I signed up to be on their mailing list at the till and there was already 5 pages of email address just for that day.

 

 

 

The event had bee advertised for weeks before with the poster which I've photographed at the top of the post in locations around the city and in the Uni grounds to attract attention and It definitely worked a treat. There was also a photo booth, a DJ playing upcoming bands, all of whose CD's and Vinyl's are available in store to promote their Music Section of the store. The footfall for this first day of opening would have been huge, the traffic through the store was crazy but organised really well and it was a good event.

Obsession

I had a lecture based on Visual Critics and how Obsession plays a part in our work.
This video about a special event involving Alexander Wang in America portrays obsession and I was quite shocked by it.

I can understand the sheer excitement at being able to own a favourite designers garments for free as it may not have been possible for everyone at the event to be able to afford his range of clothing, however I don't like how everyone practically batters each other to get as much as they can. This is greed at its best.

Street Style

Street Style is an easy access way into the fashion industry. Its beneficial for self promotion and it can be strategic for brands, however something that used to be fresh and free that allowed consumers to have a voice is now over done, exhausted, coarsened and manipulated. There's no raw honesty anymore. Street Style has created monsters not Gods. People now can make themselves a brand, something that has to be sustained and worked and even evolve. Street Style has been nicknamed 'Peacocking' for what I think are fairly obvious reasons. I think this nickname fits pretty perfectly, It's often beautiful clothes on beautiful people being shown off.


                                              http://vimeo.com/61348049
                        
                                 


                                                 
   
                                              
   
                                              

Fashion Loves Art

  

 

One of my lectures from Matt Gill was about how Art or Artists inspire fashion design or new fashion concepts. However from this lecture I also realised how easily combinations of art and fashion within design or when used for campaigns can be quite shocking or controversial.

 

 

 

 

I particularly took interest in Elsa Schiaparelli, a leading fashion Designer in the 1930's. She took inspiration and worked with Dadaist and surrealist artists such as Salvador Dali.

We were shown examples of her garments and the art that inspired them.

 

 

Surrealist Lobster Dress 1937, Collaboration with Salvador Dali

 

Her designs and use of shocking colours such as fuchsia pink were considered unusual for the 1930's making her a leading innovative designer of the time. Her surreal and unorthodox style was considered popular because it was so different from the usual 1930's shapes and colour palettes.

 

 

Schiaparelli was also mentioned in another lecture about Brand Identity due to the shade of pink used consistently throughout the brand being so recognisable. I noticed more surreal art that she had incorporated into her designs that took my interest. She became friends with many surrealists and most of her ideas were based on their principles and images. Elsa was able to have original sketches by Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau embroidered or printed directly onto her dresses. Her collaborations with Dali are some of her best known designs

 

 

When I was in London in the V & A I was looking at the fashion section and noticed a Schiaparelli garment which I had seen pictures of in my lecture. The detail is amazing even though the shapes created by thin stitching is quite understated the bold colours used such as the orange, the red the blue and the pink really bring it life, again an unusual and rare concept for 1930's fashion.

 

 

 

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I was also Interested in the fashion/art collaborations regarding famous or religious art and the reactions they cause. For example Girbaud's controversial campaign.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not a religious person however I'm not sure how I feel about reproductions of Religious artwork to promote a brand and create a campaign, however I'm seeing it everywhere so there must be an appreciation for it or a desire to be controversial.

Advertiser’s Statement:

The advertisers´primary defence was that "modern society has enabled women to achieve sexual equality with men only by sacrificing their femininity.
This advertisement´s interpretation of Leonardo´s painting does not trivialize the sacred, but rather creates a new perception of femininity by presenting men - instead of women - in a position of fragility "

 
I decided to look into this a little further and I came across a T-shirt in Urban Outfitters.
 
Description : British street wear label Ichiban - “number one” in Japanese- presents this soft, regular fit polycotton t-shirt featuring a hip hop-themed "Last Supper" sublimation print to the front and ribbed crew collar; finished with an Ichiban logo tab to the sleeve.
 

 

I spoke with the manager and came to learn that the T-shirt is actually really popular and in only 3 weeks they have sold  over 70 of them. At £32 a pop I wouldn't consider this a cheap buy... I imagine that the recognisable painting with what could be considered a humorous or witty twist to the original appeals to many.

 

 

 

 

 

The Eye Has To Travel

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvt_5143NRA

I highly recommend this documentary to anyone interested in fashion, and even to those who aren't. It gives an amazing insight to the fashion industry. I found it both interesting and inspiring how she views attributes of people, for example Mick Jagger's lips. Although some people might not class him as classically 'good looking' instead Vreeland takes interest in an unusual feature and wants to address it directly or even make the feature the focus of the photo. I like her idea of steering away from social convention and appreciating individuality.

I noted down some of my favourite quotes from the documentary ...

"The only real elegance is in the mind, if you've got that, the rest really comes from it "
" It's not about the dress you wear but the life you lead in the dress "
" You're not supposed to give people what they want, your supposed to give them what they don't know they want yet "

Intro

I'm new to blogging so I'm going to give this my best shot. I know what your thinking, 5 years too late? I think my first post should act in way of an explanation. I'll start with the name of my blog...

I understand, admire and envy the urban cool look or twist to an outfit that a pair of trainers can be as a fashion statement recently with the retro trend booming, however if I were to wear a pair of trainers walking through the city I would look as if I'd got lost on the way to the gym, and even then my presence at the gym would be questionable.
It seems that I am far more comfortable in a Faux Fur Peter Pan Collar Coat looking like a 1950's 5 year old at Christmas.

As for the background of my blog, that is a symbol of my progress.