Small Galleries//Benefit

So as part of my group project, which is to create a magazine we're looking at doing a piece on smaller galleries around London.

I've been slowly visiting a few including:

// Large Glass //

392 Caledonian Road London N1 1DN

// Website //

//The Crypt Gallery//

St Pancras Church, Euston Rd, London NW1 2BA

// Website //

I've still got a few more to see but as I've been viewing these exhibitions and galleries I've had a few questions to think about.

What is the benefit of these small galleries?

It can't be money, so then what? Is it that the smaller galleries possibly care more about art looking to display works even at a small cost. I was talking about this idea to some artists who'd presented work at the Crypt Gallery and they'd said it hadn't really cost them at all. So is it more that the work being exhibited, gaining it press, gaining the artists press, do the smaller galleries have this more in mind?

I think personally smaller galleries are brilliant I mean the Tate or V&A are great if they're presenting something you really want to see but most of the time they're really tourist based. I've seen various exhibitions at both including David Bowie Is and Yayoi Kusama and I'm not saying both weren't brilliant and excellently curated. But there's something else to these smaller venues.

The Cyrpt will most likely become a regular favourite now I've been, generally because they've started with a building with character and history rather than some collection of purpose built white walls. I'ts punk in a sense of wanting to break away from that and I think it's brilliant. 

I think something I really want to look out for is smaller art groups and exhibitions, especially not just in London only, I think they're so much more interesting than the majority of work around in big galleries.

Philip Treacy // Fascinator

For a photoshoot for our magazine project we're really starting to think about the idea of doing a photoshoot based around headpieces, after looking at the idea of Baz Lurhmann's women it's been given a renaissance feel to it too, as I was reading I found this // Article // all about Phillip Treacy declaring that fascinators are dead. 

As we know the genius that is Phillip Treacy has brought hats into the public eye time and time again designing headwear for everyone. He talks about how cheap production killed the fascinator and really moved it away from being a piece of millinery genius, so maybe this is something to think about when we do our shoot. Maybe try and think about the return of real hats, grand hats.

Personally I think I have to agree with him, to me I think headwear can really add to a general look and improve on it especially on a catwalk, helping raise pieces and clothing to another level. Plus with their importance in costume and with their links to class and class dressing I really do see his point, but again is this just not the same for every part of fashion now?

We all want what we deem as glamourous and we want it cheap. I mean look at clothing in Primark you can get basic clothing for so cheaply you have to think about how much money the people making these garments get? I think millinery is something we don't see enough of and from seeing various pieces of Phillip Treacy's work at various exhibitions I have to agree that "...now they are no more than headbands with a feather stuck on with a glue gun" 

 I think with Ascot looking to tackle their dress codes in 2012 with more enforcement on headwear really adds to the idea of fascinators are considered unfashionable and have been so overdun they're now just a total faux pas. It's really clear that what everyone is dying to see is something to do with hats, proper hats styled to add to an outfit rather.

I think all of this is going to be something really interesting to think about when doing our photoshoot, with regards to styling choices and also shooting. Do we aim more concentration to the hats or do we have a mix of beauty, focus of the hats and also focus on the outfits?

Graduate//Fashion Week

So something to look forward to is graduate fashion week!

With less than a month until graduate fashion week now we've got something to look forward to from 2nd - 5th June there's going to universities from all over the UK presenting their degree shows. 

Heres the line up for whats happening:

Sunday 2nd June - Bournemouth, UCLAN, Edinburgh, Northumbria, Northbrook & Wiltshire College Salisbury and Istituo Marangoni London.

Monday 3rd June - Liverpool John Moores, UCA Rochester, Ravensbourne, Nottingham Trent, De Montfort Contour (Swimwear & Intimate Apparel), UCA Epsom.

Tuesday 4th June - East London, Bath Spa & Northampton, De Montfort, Birmingham, Manchester School of Art, Salford, Kingston. 

Wednesday 5th June - Best of GFW, GFW Gala and Awards Show.

Personally I'm most excited to see Ravensbournes show, obviously im bias but I think we're heading to actually going and see it after this projects hand in which is exciting! 

I can't wait to see what comes out of graduate fashion week none the less, there's something to me which I prefer about graduate shows. I think it's the fact that rather than working with just money as their target like most brands they're working to show their art, their creative flare. I think it really allows them to be more conceptual and take more risks than most designers do, this is something which I hate about design now it just seems to be based on money.

But ANYWAY away from that rant if anyone wants to check out any information for GFW then 

// CLICK HERE //

Style//Manifesto

 Looking at style and rules with style it's really interesting to see where we stand with rules for living and manifesto's. I was reading into Schiaparelli and she stood by her own rules, as have other art movements and some film groups.

  

1. Since most women do not know themselves, they should try to do so.

2. A woman who buys an expensive dress and changes it, often with disastrous result, is extravagent and foolish. 

3. Most women (and men) are colour-blind. They should ask for suggestions.

4. Remember 20 percent of womne have inferiority complexes, 70 perfect have illusions. 

5. Ninety percent are affraid of being conspicuous and of what people say. So they buy a grey suit. They should dare to be different. 

6. Women should listen and ask for competent criticism and advice.

7. They should choose their clothes alone or in the company of a man. 

8. They should never shop with another woman, who sometimes consciously and often unconsciously is apt to be jealous. 

9. She should buy little and only of the best or the cheapest.

10. Never fit a dress to a body, but train the body to fit a dress.

11. A woman should buy mostly in on place where she is known and respected and not rush around trying every new fad. 

12. And she should pay her bills. 

Personally I think this is a genius idea and I think we all need to learnt to form some ideas of rules to look at when thinking about style. Even if a lose basis to follow to stop us getting distracted by things in life. I think my personal manifesto for stylish living would be something similar to this. 

1. Be yourself at all times - Buy something for you and noone else. 

2. Don't follow trends - Trends are generally expensive things which will be out of fashion soon so they're not worth it, why pay to look like everyone else following a trend? 

3. Buy quality - Try to buy something that really stands out and something you'll have no regrets about buying. 

4. Find YOUR brand - Find brands you love and brands who design things that fit/look really good, they're people you can buy from without any worries/concerns. 

5. Comfort - If you feel awkward/uncomfortable it's not working and it won't look good, if you feel comfortable you'll pull it off. 

6. Don't be afraid - Don't worry about something not being conventional, you're not dressing for anyone but yourself.

7. NEVER throw clothes away - It's a waste to throw something away and it might work really well with something you buy in the future.

8. Don't buy because you 'feel' like it - Generally you're wasting money but you won't end up with anything you really like.

9. Colour embrace it - Pinks and yellows can really stand out and are brilliant, don't be scared of them.

10. Hunt for things - Charity shops are a gold mine, inexpensive clothing which is generally unworn/something a little different. 

11. Shoes are everything - Buy expensive shoes, don't ever risk ruining your feet and who doesn't love nice shoes?

Real Women//Plus Size

We live in an era where size seems to be everything. Being a size 6-8 is considered beautiful and anything else is ostracised but in all honesty the average size for British women is now a 12. How do we feel about this?

We'd all love to be this size and being a guy I guess its a little different, size is less of an image we feel the need to aim for. But rather than talking about how much of an issue size is I wanted to talk more about how much is actually on the market for women of plus sizes. Size 12 women make up almost  31% of the market, so they're no longer a niche market so should we aim to design for them more specifically?

With Stars such as Beth Ditto gracing the cover of LOVE in 2009 we also have to think about the idea that size is something which should be embraced rather than turned away from. If you have a client like Beth Ditto are you going to turn her away and tell her to get an outfit from somebody else, or are you going to try and suit her needs?

Talking about women and size a mention has to go to Mark Fast who grabbed headlines in 2010 by walking both 'normal' and size 12 models down the catwalk, firstly he had to go to a specialist agency to get the models. From other uni projects looking at the future of fashion and modeling lots of people said to me that they think the future of modelling is going to see a rise of more modelling agencies who deal with more 'specialist' modeling, including plus sized. 

My main gripe with just sending these models down a catwalk in size 12 is the clothes are still designed for a smaller silhouette, they're just in a bigger size. If you're going to use size as an issue and tackle it why not create something which is more flattering for the women wearing it. This is where I feel the issue stands with size and fashion. We have noone designer for bigger women and noone designing anything which will suit their body size better and also something which could cover areas they have more of an issue with. 

After a talk with David Sassoon at uni something he really made a point about was that he was designing for people who problems with parts of their body and it was his job to tackle these problems. He highlighted that actually not every outfit is going to fit any woman and its exactly the same for fashion which is designed for thin women. If the average size is a 12, why not design for it clearly a massive target market is being missed here. 

Take these designs from Elena Miro Fall 2012 for example, here you have someone designing for larger women but also taking size into account unlike Mark Fast who seemed to create a desgin for a smaller size and put it on a size 12. She's managed to do as I said and look at people's problem/insecurity areas and do something about them and still create something which I think is both beautiful yet stylish for the women. 

I think fashion designers and especially students really need to think about size as something that become a real issue and something which could easily be tackled and faced. Brands like Asos have brought out Asos Curve, they understand the market and thats probably the secret behind their success. We need to have less being just aiming for luxury brands and make people realise there is money in other areas of fashion too i.e. highstreet and aiming for a bigger market. 

Death of//Street Style

 I was reading an article from the Sunday Times about street style, is street style still a relevant source of inspiration?

Do we really think that street style is once what it was or has it really started to fall into a state of dull personalities who dress up more so for attention than a style choice. I think there are really two ways of looking at this argument you've got people who think that their style is just a part of them, an expression and you've got others who use style as a way to get attention especially at events such as fashion week. 

Personally I don't see any of this as a negative, I think that style is something which people should really play around with. I've recieved a fair few comments about my style sometimes describing it in a negative light and I wonder what people's issue is. People always seem to question certain aspects of the way I dress, mainly the fact I wear clothes which are bigger than they need to be. I really don't see what the problem with me wearing a large is if im a small - medium, I prefer the fit of a large it becomes a personal choice. 

The article had people describe people dressing up for fashion week and said that its something which should be ignored and it'll die down. I think being in the fashion industry there's going to be things you don't like and things you do, for example personally I tend to avoid the highstreet for various reasons. Does that mean you totally dismiss something because you don't like it?

Looking at both of these pictures from Facebook page 'Self Styled London' of Alexis Knox and Alis Pelleschi, here you've got a facebook page which focuses in on peoples individual style which I regard as something really interesting. Why not gather people and images of really vibrant style? I think style is a huge scale you have so many different people at different parts of the market, people who buy luxury brands and people who buy fast fashion. What I think is more interesting is how they choose to actually wear the pieces, what they put them with and how it ends up as a final result. 

I think thats why to me street style really is inspirational, I don't think its dead at all. To me street style is a really interesting and good way to see how trends are being worn, looking for new trends and styles. It's a way for designers to see whats popular and trying to move towards what the market wants. 

What Makes//Something Cool

Love, Trust and Authenticity. 

These three words are what apparently 'makes something cool', what is it about something we really link to this appeal. 

//LOVE//

Love, the whole point of buying fashion. We love something, we need it, we crave it so I guess we love it? Or do we? Do we honestly love fashion/pieces/brands, I know personally a brand I 'love' are Doc Martens. I think their designs are stylish yet simplistic, their British heritage is and also the quality are just a few of the reasons I love them. I think the love I have here would be what I consider the love aspect to making an item cool, it's all about really finding something you really connect with. 

//TRUST//

Trust, I really think you've got to buy something you're really beliving in and it goes hand in hand with love, both being a vaulable asset for a brand. If your customer trusts you they'll return to you, constantly feeling comfortable for what you're bringing out. You've got to find a brand who you think know their branding and stay true to their image, rather than finding a brand who are constantly changing. Also you trust a brand when you know their product will deliver what you desire.

//AUTHENTICITY//

Authenticity again is a lot like trust, for you it has to be real. You don't want a fake or some rip off you want originality. It's like buying a designer bag, you're not gonna want to pay out for something that is just a cheap rip off which will eventually fall apart on you, you want the quality and knowing its come from the designer.

I think we really need to question these things when it comes to fashion, its a really interesting way of looking at why a customer would desire a product, aim for these things and you fulfil their desire. It's something really important to consider when looking at an advert/campaign/promotion.