'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!

You Set the Fire In Me Tom Vek!

I am officially re-addicted. For the past month, I'm not sure why, but Tom Vek's 2005 debut album 'We Have Sound' has been continuously played on my CD player.

I first discovered Tom Vek as he supported The Bees (www.thebees.info) on their 2004 UK tour. Captivated by his amazing aura, his live performance really gave the audience something unusual and exciting to watch.

His funky, Avant-Garde dance movements echoing influences from the Talking Heads, together with his obvert passion for the music, created a certain atmosphere. No one was really sure what they were watching, but what they were watching was pretty special, and by the end of the set people wanted to hear more.

Vek's creativity and experimentation with the music and vocals insure this album can never be over played, with every play each song still maintains its unique freshness and ensures a never-ending love affair with its listener.

Below is the video for the track 'Nothing but Green Lights' which was the last song to be released from his debut back in 2005. This video is a prime example of how the audience follows Vek's display of eccentricity from the recording, to the performing, to the promotion. It is this eccentricity which induces our attention and keeps us coming back for more.



So where is he now? and why have we not seen anything of him for the past three years?

His official website (www.tomvek.tv) claims he's still working on his new album, making it as good, if not better, as his debut. I do wish he’d hurry up!

Come back soon Tom Vek!