Sorry, Anna Wintour who?
High end vs high-street - where do the similarities lie?
High end brands reflect the high-street, and the high-street reflects the high end. This is how fashion has always worked, an overlap of inspiration regardless of price tag or designer credits. Whether it be on the catwalk or sidewalk, fashion is telling the same stories using similar narratives, attitudes and lifestyle aspirations, but just for different market sectors. This is known as Market Level Translation.
Tasked with identifying the common language that link two brands, I chose to look at the crossover between Chloé and Jigsaw.
Modern Femininity: taking natural and etherial elements, and throwing in the disclaimer of structured shapes and smart tailoring. With a less is more approach and a concentration on a neutral colour palette, this ensures the focus is more refined as opposed to too girlie or fairy princess.
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| JIGSAW |
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| Chloé |
I then went on to select my own two brands, using the same thought process.
Super Chic: a wardrobe for the modern woman, elegant and refined inspired by masculine cuts and tailoring. Keeping it simple, with less is more being the key and investing in timeless, classic pieces and that perfect fit. Concentration on solid colours and classic prints: black, white, navy, neutrals; pinstripe, leopard, check. It’s about stealing from the boys and glamourising for the girls.
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| Yves Saint Laurent |
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| Zara |
While it's always interesting to see how designers influence high street brands via the catwalk, it also poses the question as to how designers cope with the pressure of having to keep on top of the high-street and their reactions to the imitations then found in most high street stores. However from a consumer point of view, I will always be thankful of the designer replicas on the high-street. They allow people with modest budgets like myself to not feel like they have to settle for looking crap just because they can't afford that designer price tag. As for myself, I will always be a high-street devotee.
Fashion On Film: Bill Cunningham New York
‘The best fashion show is definitely on the street.’ Bill Cunningham
Set on the pulsing streets of Manhattan, this documentary follows the life of fashion photography veteran Bill Cunningham. It portrays a man passionate about his work to the point of obsession, principled in his approach to it, and humble in his recognition of it. One of the most significant characteristics this documentary portrays of Bill is his utter disdain with the glamour of the fashion industry. Celebrities and socialites are not the focus of Bill’s lens, but instead he favours photographing everyday people on the street, who he thinks are interesting. Bill himself states ‘I am not interested in celebrities and their free dresses, I’m interested in clothes.’ His outlook on the fashion industry is refreshingly simple. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, if what you’re wearing is innovative and exciting, then you are a true style icon in the eyes of Bill Cunningham.
It is clear how highly respected Bill is within the industry and amongst his peers, as being one of the most enduring fashion authorities of today, with Vogue Queen Anna Wintour herself stating that: ‘We all get dressed for Bill’. It is his stamp of approval that any fashion enthusiast would be seeking, and to be featured in his New York Times style column would be the highest honour, something most would aspire to achieve in the style careers.
One of the main things I took from this film was how vital photography, imagery and just general visual aesthetic is within the fashion industry. It captures the art of fashion as it’s happening, and in its most raw entity. With Bill Cunningham, it is not so much just about taking pictures, but telling stories, and depicting peoples lives through the medium of photography.
Despite the sea if digital equipment available to him, in the film Bill prefers the medium of good old fashioned film roles. There is something about film that is so much more raw and organic in its appearance. Digital is too perfect; it lacks the essence of what’s real, probably why Bill uses it; someone whose approach to story telling is so sincere, with all his photos dedicated to discovering something authentic and beautiful. It fits perfectly against the back drop of New York City, a concrete jungle harbouring so much life and vision within its walls, pavements and streets.
While Bill is very keen to create photo narratives of other peoples lives, he is very reserved when it comes to his own story. The film concentrates very much on his work, with very little insight into his personal life. We learn very little about his background, his family or his relationships. We get the impression that even those who have known him for years know very little about him. He is a closed book, hiding behind the disguise of a camera lens and an old, navy rain mac. His pictures alone stand as the testament to his life, the decades spent devoted to capturing, and worshiping the style of New Yorkers.
The film is a fantastic and fascinating insight into one person and their passion. Bill is a humble man whose enthusiasm and joy for his work is utterly contagious. If Bill loves it, you can’t help but love it too. It is a simple story of a simple man, but one that is funny, uplifting and ultimately inspiring.
Up close and personal
Close up photos of the prints and patterns I've found within my own wardrobe.
My favourite is probably the bird print, showing that monochrome doesn't just need to be depicted in the form of just straight forward black and white, but instead uses an image that would work in full colour, and washes them with a grey scale effect. I also enjoy the symmetry within the flower pattern on the right. It's clean and defined up close, but from a distance the repetition of the motif almost makes the images look blurred. The palm trees show the versatility of a monochrome palette by using an image more commonly associated with tropical or bright colours, and replacing them with black and white. The very top centre image embraces a trend all of its own: monochrome aztec, a craze that seems to permanently be present within affordable online fashion brands. Type into Google 'Monochrome Aztec' and the first page of results bring up websites such as Boohoo.com and Missguided. It seems it's a staple trend amongst lower end brands. Perhaps its an attempt to add a sense of playfulness to an otherwise very refined, simplistic colour palette, thus appealing to their more adolescent audiences. Whether that be the reason for it or not, it appears to be a trend that is not leaving anytime soon.
I guess that is something that can be said of all spinoffs of monochrome though. They're using colours that are timeless, classic and extremely simple to wear. And whether it's on the high-street or catwalks, monochrome will exist forever. And thank God for that, because I love it!
Prints and Patterns
I discovered these prints by Dutch fashion & print/textile designer Nina Warmerdam while researching monochrome patterns. I picked these particular images to group together, because I think they demonstrate the diversity of monochrome: it's not just black and white, but ever evolving to include other colours. Here we have examples of grey scale and the use of red as a classic accent colour for black and white. Furthermore the use of blue tones relates to a growing trend, where in some cases Navy could be considered the new black.
xo
Pin It!
I’ve recently been getting really into Pinterest, after my lecturers encouraged us to use it as part of our course. It’s such an important visual communication tool, as well as being so much fun to just flick through and have a look what everyone else is pinning and gathering inspiration for your own pin boards. It also allows you to create a personal and professional profile for future employees My current Pinterest obsession is related to the mood boards we’re creating in lessons at the moment. The focus is colour palettes and creating colour stories. The obvious colour palette for me is monochrome. Practically my entire wardrobe is black, white and grey based, so it made sense for me to choose a colour theme that I clearly adore.
Simply just typing Monochrome in to the search bar on Pinterest, I’ve been absolutely inundated with images showcasing the best in monochrome trends. From installations to colour gradients and basically just anything that incorporates the black and white theme, whether they be fashion related or not, all have given me a starting point for pinning my own images and helped inspire the direction of my mood board.
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| Who'd have thought Zebras and mushrooms could provide such fashpiration |
I absolutely adore this butterfly print, to me it almost looks like feathers. The use of the blue accent is something that has been on the catwalks quite a lot recently when offsetting monochrome palettes. And the red is a classic pairing with black and white. I myself will always pair a monochrome outfit with a red lip, it's one of my absolute favourite combinations and I feel this pattern perfectly illustrates this classic trend.
I definitely want to keep my eye out for more similar designs and will probably pin them to my Pinterest when I find them: Grace Keating so go follow me (shameless plug).
xo
Goodbye home, hello uni!
A five and a half hour journey later, the pain of lugging boxes and suitcases up the stairs and a new, rather clinical feeling room, I had finally arrived. For weeks I had been wishing the time to pass to this moment, the freedom of university, and the lifestyle it brings with it.
Yet standing in my bare room staring out the window overlooking the resident smoker steps, I kind of longed for that swaddling cloth of a safety blanket, and all the comfort and stability that living at home with your parents brings. Throughout the whole unpacking process it finally dawned on me, this was my home for the year, and these strangers were the people I would have to live with, whether we got on or not, we were stuck together.
I can’t deny it’s definitely gotten easier, though there are still some aspects of living so far from home that are still bizarre to me. Take for example accents: I don’t have one. I’m from the South and I don’t even have so much of a slight London twang. So moving to where I consider the North (I’m a Southerner, anywhere above London is considered north to us) and to where accents are a plenty was almost a culture shock to me! It really made it hit home how far away I was. Though a couple weeks on I sometimes find myself slipping into a Northern accent. Hey I’m becoming a native!
As well as that, as hard as I tried, my first week also saw me contracting the dreaded freshers flu. Yet unlike most, my body couldn’t hold out till the end of freshers week. No, only 4 days in and I was hit with what felt like bubonic plague. Though I did my best to party through it, guess thats what being a fresher is all about; and I wanted to make the most of it. People are right when they say you only have one freshers week. In that week I made a friend for life, and like every fresher did some things I’m not completely proud of (though mine were extremely tame in comparison to others!) And all in all I had a brilliant time. So heres to the next three years, and all the adventures they’ll bring with them!
xo
Blog About A Blog: Episode 3 - Fashion Vignette
Fashion Vignette was founded by Albi, a designer and entrepreneur with a background in fashion and interior design, as well as experience working for iconic brands such as Levis where she was design director.
The site works closely with Trendstop,com, an online fashion and trend forecasting agency, an excellent resource for fashion and creative professionals providing extensive data for forecasts and trends in all areas of clothing, accessories and beauty. The collaborations between the two sites allows for Fashion Vignette to bring you up to date, accurate trend predictions spanning up to 4 seasons in advance. Most recently posts have been in relation to S/S 16 colour pallets, creating mood boards out of these colour trends.
To me Fashion Vignette is an invaluable source of inspiration, and can see myself regularly referring to it throughout my course assignments.
xo
http://fashionvignette.blogspot.co.uk
Blog About A Blog: Episode 2 - LA by Diana
LA by Diana is a fashion blog created by Diana Marks. Using LA as her background, she provides daily outfit inspirations for her readers. Describing her style as preppy while also being sophisticated, she takes inspiration from her Russian background, and uses her European influence to really create a signature style and brand for herself, one of the reasons why I believe her blog is so successful. Her mix of high-end and affordable brands means that her blog appeals to a wide range of people of all ages with all different budgets.
You definitely get the sense that she is aware of the broad spectrum of followers she has, and varies looks, trends and styles accordingly, meaning that there is something to suit everyones taste. One of my favourite and most useful features of her blog I think, is the embedded hyperlinks that allow you to navigate to websites, designers or products she may have included in that days post. It allows you to interact with what she’s writing on a visual level. It also means that everything is nice and easy to find. Say you wanted those shoes she was wearing, well instead of traipsing through the internet, she brings them to you!
There is also the feature of being able to ‘pin’ photos onto your own Pinterest account which you can then refer to at a later date.
The appearance of the blog itself is very sleek and minimal, which is then reflected in Diana’s own wardrobe choices. A definite must read for any fashion fanatics out there, it conveys style through gorgeous photography, urban backdrops and sharp, well written posts on all things fashion.
xo
http://www.labydiana.com
Disclaimer: all credit and ownership of images goes to Diana of LA by Diana, I do not claim responsibility for any of them, and permission has been gained for me to use them.
Disclaimer: all credit and ownership of images goes to Diana of LA by Diana, I do not claim responsibility for any of them, and permission has been gained for me to use them.
Blog About A Blog: Episode 1 - The Prosecco Diaries
The Prosecco diaries is a lifestyle blog written by Sarah, a super swanky London girl with an even swankier blog! Before you even start reading her actual blogs posts, you must go check out her About Me section. It’s so fun and creative, and formatted in a way I’ve never really seen on this sort of social media platform.
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| How cute and original are these little 'About Me' sketches! Love them! |
What started as just a hobby Through her blog being so well established, she has opportunities to attend plenty of industry and blogger events which are then reported back on her blog. Most recently was the blogger festival held at Central Point bar in London. Through showcasing these events on her blog, Sarah like many other bloggers is giving us mere mortals an insight into what goes on at industry events, as well as exemplifying how important networking is within the context of social media.
I think part of the charm and appeal of Sarah and her blog is the impression you get that she is very much the girl next door who just happens to be very successful in what she does, and so for those just starting out, or really trying to establish themselves in the blogging world, she is a great encouragement, proving that success can stem from anywhere, whilst also demonstrating how blogging really can turn into a lifestyle. It sure looks like one hell of a fun job!
While it's a blog I have only very recently started reading, it is definitely one that I would continue to follow. Keep up the good work Sarah!
xo
http://www.theproseccodiaries.com
Disclaimer: all credit and ownership of images goes to Sarah of The Prosecco Diaries, I do not claim responsibility for any of them, and permission has been gained for me to use them.
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