Shiny, Shiny Things

My attention was stolen this weekend by...no, not men in fur coats...but sequins! And even more amazing, sequin bow ties!

I was sat around on the usual Sunday night this weekend with nothing to do and my imagination ran away with me. I was trying to create a smart, but flashy, attention seeking outfit for the opening of a new club I was considering attending.

I came across these beauties on Topshop's website (topshop.com).

Given that the knickers are featured as part of Topshop's ‘Circus’ collection, images of ring masters came into my mind, ring masters with matching black sequin bow ties. This thought, I love. So I am now on the quest to either find somewhere that's selling black sequin bow ties (that isn’t a joke shop), or to create my own!



Urban Outfitters may have had them in a few months back, but I missed the boat-sad times, obviously. Now all they are stocking is boring polka dot bow ties, and even they are in the sale! Still, I'd imagine they'd still look pretty swish paired with a black and white over-sized checked shirt!

Something I'd really like to query is why we never see sequins in summer, and if we do, it’s kept very very minimal or related to ethnical fashions. But why never the full on sequin shorts?

Sequins do have their day though. They were last 'in' when I was in my first year of University (2005). I bought a silver sequin bolero from the 915 (children's) section of New Look and wore it for out Christmas ball. Today it’s sat in a bag in my bottom draw with half of the sequins missing. Still, I'm sure I could get some more wear out of it this time around!

Fur Coats for Men-Hot or Not?

Browsing through the latest fashions for men in the autumn/winter addition of GQ Style, I came across an interesting trend, fur coats for men.

Fur coats are definitely big this winter for women. They've taken over the high street stores in force, leading to the donning by the average woman as well as the style-conscious indie queens!

But fur coats for men? Hmm...I'm intrigued!

Predominately seen on the catwalks of the big fashion houses such as Gucci, Armani and Dolce and Gabbana; fur coats are definitely making a coming!

Men whom wear fur coats are generally imagined to be gangster, bling, bling P-Diddy types, or drag queens, or perhaps even James Bond villains. But to think I may be about to see the average guy walk past in the centre of Leeds or Manchester all wrapped up in his fur coat is quite ground breaking! In fact, I'm unsure if I even known a guy who'd even dare to before now, I wonder how much difference this will make?

To see the fur coat forcast to supposedly gain 'cool' factor for the fashionable men of Britain, I'm thinking this should be interesting.

Just picture this...the dudeish British cool guy (I say British because I don't really have a clue what’s classed as 'cool' in other countries or continents!) wearing his skinny jeans, winkle pickers, checked shirt and perhaps even sporting some Ray Bans-all wrapped up in that oh so chic fur coat. Marvellous.

Although I may sound like I'm mocking this image, I'm actually finding it quite provocative! There's nothing more attractive or exciting than seeing a man who is daring enough than to try out something so new and so, well, fashion taboo in a way I suppose-kind of like 80s Lycra leotards are for women.

As of yet I have yet to see a fur coat to be warn by a man in public, I suppose there is still time though and winter is still approaching!

UPDATE!: This winter I've seen H&M stocking fur coats in the men's department.

'Frock Me' , T4 Sundays-Alexa Chung and Henry Holland

After receiving my weekly dose of Hollyoaks this morning, Miquita and Steve introduced me to a brand new addition to Sunday morning T4.Staring fashion designer Henry Holland and presenter-come-IT-girl Alexa Chung as our hosts, T4 present its premier programme dedicated to fashion.

'Frock Me' offers the young T4 audience a unique perspective on the world of fashion, focusing on the relationship between street style and high-end fashion design-something which had only been touched upon in Gok Wan's 'Fashion Fix' earlier this year which also featured Chung as a presenter.

From the outset is it clear this is a programme which focuses on individuality and creativity, as well as pushing a 'who's who' of the fashion world (notably the majority of the guests were well known friends of the presenters-Daisy Lowe, Agyness Deyn and Vivienne Westwood to name a few).

The main concept of the show features style scout Gemma searching the streets of British cities for individuals whom 'stand out' from the youth culture crowd. Two ‘chosen ones’ are then put forward to a 'frock off' in a bid to win £1000 through the creation of their own quirky outfits to an agreed criteria set by the style scout, this weeks task was to incorporate vinyl into the look.

To finish the show The Kooks played their ‘new’ song ‘Sway’ (I say ‘new’ as I understand the song has been performed at Kooks gigs two years previous to its release this year.) as the in house designers and those street ‘stylists’ paraded their creations in front of the band. This format is set to follow in weeks to come, with a consideration to the relationship between fashion and music-something I thought about as an initial dissertation subject back in the day!

Surprisingly, I found 'Frock Me' quite inspiring and entertaining. On the outset I expected more parallels with ‘Fashion Fix’ as yet again it was Alexa Chung presenting along side a fashion industry gay! Yet I only heard the phrase 'on trend' about once or twice as opposed to Gok’s ten (at least) every minute-what a relief! Instead I enjoyed watching Holland’s underlying bitchy-ness and irony, I found it quite humorous and comforting to know these presenters were human and actually had their own opinions!


Again in comparison to Gok's 'Fashion Fix' ,’Frock Me’ focuses on being yourself and creating your own style, instead of following what is ’expected’ and what trends should be followed I was left feeling inspired to do just that and by the end of the programme I wanted to go down to my local sewing store and buy some fabric and get started!

The Future's Bright, The Future's Orange.

Seriously, why do some women think its a good idea to all look the same?

Scantily clad, pale skin-toned lipstick, boobs in your face, arse hanging out, fake extended bleach blonde or black hair, fake nails, fake orange tan.

I go into a nightclub and this is what I see, I'm surrounded by about a hundred Jodie Marsh lookalikes.


What do I think when I see this?


YUK!


Since returning from University in the lakes, to a populated area which clubbing and going out is more predominant in the social lives of many young people, I have noticed a huge difference in the ways these women construct their appearance for a 'night out on the town'.

A few nights ago I decided I'd have a night out during fresher’s week at the local 'hot spot'. The place was absolutely rammed, as you'd expect in fresher’s week, yet about 70% of women looked the same, sporting the popular 'orange vogue' look.


I really do not understand where this fashion sense of 'porn star' has come from, well, apart from watching x-rated films perhaps. But the fashion industry has never really promoted a tan-tastic model for young women to follow at all. When we watch models walk down the catwalk we see a pale, fresh-faced woman whom beams natural youth and beauty.

Yet to walk into any busy town centre on a Saturday night we are greeted by an army of Umpa Lumpa aspiring women looking for that 'perfect' man who will of course really respect her...especially when she's dressed like that of course.

These woman, or girls even, strive to display sexual availability to men, they want to look 'sexy' (although they just look grotesque to me). They want to follow the crowd and be part of what is conceived as this beauty 'norm' that their peers and social groupings have constructed.


Obviously it is their choice to dress in such a way which may result in unwanted male attention, yet I don't see what the need is, unless the need is actually a desperation.

This is where I pride myself in being different. Although I wouldn't actually say I was in the same social group of these girls, I do go to the same night clubs, whether or not they dance on a different floor to a different kind of music, they are still present in the same space.

I enjoy dressing for myself, in my own quirky ways. I show my personality in what I wear and I still get attention from the opposite sex, but its more likely to be 'look at what she's wearing' than 'look at what she's not wearing'. Thank god.

Clothing and style make enough impact on their own, so if you really want people to look at you, you might as well make them look at you with some respect- and I may sound like a granny, but I don't care!

Glam Goth Meets Romance

Autumn/Winter 2008 is all about the goth-yes, again.

Last year's play on goth was a very sexual, mannish provocateur image, bow ties, studs contrasted with latex dominated the catwalk. Yet this year the goth becomes a mythical romantic figure, lending itself to the romance and floral influences of the Spring/Summer 2008 collections.

Lace is the fabric of this season, as seen in collections from Emma Cook, Paul and Joe, and Prada, lace really captures this essence of the romantic vision within the dark Gothic imagery.


Emma Cook's punk-goth vibe, as seen in the image above, really catches the audiences imaginations. Lace, usually associated with granny's net curtains and best table cloth, is used and transformed into something unimaginable, a punk goth princess- black eye liner, doc martin's n'all. The result is a powerful, yet very sexy image of a woman, dominating, yet revealing together with a celebration of the use of fabric in such a diverse and exciting fashion.


Luella's A/W 08 collection, which is strongly influenced by the folk law witches of Southern England, really sets the scene for a mythical adventure into the dark and mysterious world of this season's trends.


The models of Luella's runway display voluminous, crimped hair with glimpses of ribbons tangled within bunches envisaging an unmade image of wildness with a cute twist. The use of ribbon compliments the clothing brought forward by Luella which gives us that romantic gentle twist on the Gothic image, yet I can't help but think of Morris Dancers and Russian Dolls rather than witches!


Although the traditional Halloween-esk version of the witches hat is hidden from our gaze in this collection, the bobble hat, last seen in the early 90's along with balaclavas, makes a come back this year, giving us a pixie-like silhouette which was initially absent from the pagen image. The bobble hat super storm has zoomed straight into high street stores with that quirky folk law edge Luella loves to promote, ensuring this piece as a must-have for this season.

Pushing Boundaries

MGMT's (the New York band) live set broadcast on BBC2 from the Glastonbury Festival 2008 really captured my visions and imagination. The bright colours, glitter, psychedelia and electronic diversity work together to bring about a sense of celebration, no matter how dark the lyrics may be. Having now listened to the amazing album 'Oracular Spectacular' one track really stood out for me, 'Time to Pretend'. This track takes the topic of my previous post on the views of the Generation 'Y' to its heart, we want to live fast and die young, and we don't want to be stuck working in an office, we want to have fun.

'Time to Pretend'- MGMT video: http://court13.com/TimeToPretend_480.mov


The work of Victor and Rolf (the fashion designers) has also come to my attention recently. Displaying influences from Vivienne Westwood as well as their own innovations, Victor and Rolf combine art directly into their display and creation of their collections. The recent 'No' collection for autumn/winter 2008 gives fashion a very humorous edge whilst connoting a message of unavailability and desire through the interplay between the words 'No' and 'Dream On' with the pieces of clothing although it has been said that the collection is rather about speed and time within the fashion industry.




The 3D embossed lettering, in my opinion, captures how these designers like to experiment with the boundaries of fashion, what will be interesting is how such ideas and trends and transferred into the realm of the high street, if it does at all. Reds, blacks and greys definitely dominate this collection, together with shiny, metallic silky materials contrasting with the matted texture of the woollen coats and the extravagant fur coat- which I particularly enjoyed, ironically engraved 'wow'-reflecting the audiences thoughts and reactions to the piece.