ZOMBIE NIGHTS

I have always been into zombie films, and when Halloween roles around, its a chance to get out the make-up and face paints for something a little different. Halloween 2011 I tried something a little bit different by adding some particularly new features to my zombie transformation: toilet paper and PVA glue. I had a little session on youtube watching some Halloween make-up tutorials, and whilst watching the zombie uploads I came across this incredible video where a girl made her whole face look like a mass of peeling, rotting, bleeding, scabbing flesh by using these two things plus normal paints, face paints and make-up. Although I didn't go to the full extreme to do my whole face, I created a slightly more subtle but still gruesome version; a fairly new turned zombie if you like. By layering up wrinkled toilet paper smothered in PVA glue, then painting over using face paints and my own make-up i successfully managed to create 3-Dimensional bloody wounds and scars on my face and neck. The rest of my make up was simple and dark, with shading to create bruising to my already pale skin. I probably should have tried this new technique before the night itself as they didn't seem to stay on all night but luckily I think i found the remedy for that. My only regrets: not using enough glue & not getting more detailed photographs.

BRITAIN & IRELAND'S NEXT TOP MODEL LIVE 2011

On the 29th of October 2011, I had the chance to go to Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model Live 2011 at ExCel in London. Not only was it a wonderful day out but I also discovered some lovely brands and an incredible designer. The VnC CocktailBar was the first stall I came to and was greeted by a delicious cocktail sample; lovely way to start the day! I had a wander around the stalls, lusting over them and hoping to own everything I came across as a girl does. There were so many wonderful stalls from shops & brands filling the venue, and TOO many beautiful things that I wanted to buy, but I was well behaved and held back and just collected some leaflets for when I had a few more pennies. 

'The Only Way is Essex' star AMY CHILDS showcased her new clothes line at a pop-up stall and on the catwalk at the event. The clothes were very girly, glamorous, sexy, sparkly and sophisticated all at the same, and all at a relatively reasonable price. Below are a few of my favourite garments from Miss Childs' collection.

(FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) 'AVA' DRESS, 'SOPHIA' DRESS, 'LULU' DRESS, 'BRIDGET' DRESS & 'LILLY' DRESS.

All round superstar of fashion design, hair and make-up styling JOEY BEVAN, showed his Spring/Summer 2012 collection, "Land of the Lost Toys", at the event. Although he has been in the scene for a few years now, I unfortunately hadn't heard of him before and was rather upset that i hadn't! I fell in love with him, his ideas, his designs and all round aesthetics as soon as the models came strutting on stage. Also as a person he seemed incredibly lovely and wonderfully talented all round. His latest collection was inspired by "Tim Burton with a Victorian theme" which seemed very fitting. It was very dark but playful at the same time, and the lingerie section of the show reminded me of a more extravagant and beautiful version of a Frost French 'Floozie' collection. I found the whole show incredible, every part worked perfectly from the way the models walked, the make-up and hair design to the dance performance in between. I found him to be very inspirational and would be somebody I would really like to work with in the future. 

A FEW OF MR. BEVAN'S DESIGNS.

DANCERS FOR JOEY BEVAN'S COLLECTION: APPROPRIATELY STYLED!

THE SCARLETZ: AGAIN MATCHING JOEY BEVAN'S THEME.

The Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model Show itself was INCREDIBLE! The section where it was held was huge and every seat was practically full up. The models from the most recent season of BINTM that were in the show were absolutely stunning and the male model/dancers weren't too bad either! The show consisted of sections with different themes that merged beautifully into each other with a variety of dance in between, or even incorporated into the catwalk parts themselves. It was completely magical, I never wanted it to end and wanted to see it over and over again. Everything about the show was wonderful: the models, the music, the lighting, the clothing/lingerie and the overall atmosphere. Was definitely worth every second!

SOME OF THE BINTM MODELS.

MALE MODELS/DANCERS.

This already incredible show apparently wasn't enough, so, they added some live music to the equation. What a perfect idea! The performers were merged into the dancing and catwalk and were really upbeat which worked so well with the overall performance. Although not my favourite genre of music, this was just the cherry on top of an incredible show. 

(LEFT) LUMINITES (RIGHT) BLUEY ROBINSON

LONDON FASHION WEEK - September 16th 2011

Despite not being in the media OR having a ticket, doing a degree in a fashion related subject let myself and some friends from uni get into a catwalk show at London Fashion Week for a Spring/Summer 2012 collection from Jean-Pierre Braganza at Somerset House. Not going to lie, we did feel a little smug! Although I didn't know much about him I'm really glad I managed to get into the show. I wasn't sure on my chances of managing to get into a show but I HAD to give it a go. Part of me wanted to try to get into one of my more favoured designer's catwalk, but thought it would be interesting to go to a designer's show who I didn't know much about. It was a beautifully hot day, and there were extremely well and interestingly dressed people everywhere, I felt rather under-dressed!

NOT OUR BEST PHOTO!

JEAN PIERRE BRAGANZA'S SPRING/SUMMER 2012 COLLECTION, "PRAXIS", IS INSPIRED BY THE ART DECO ERA, INDUSTRIAL ROCK, THE GERMAN ARCHITECT  LUDWIG MILES VAN DER ROHE AND ARTIST BEN NICHOLSON, AS WELL AS A TRIP TO CORNWALL AND IT'S BEACHES. HIS COLLECTION CONSISTED OF BOLD GEOMETRIC PRINTS, DRAPING FABRIC AND CUT-UP TAILORING. THE COLOURS OF THE FABRICS COVERED A PALETTE FROM MONOCHROME BLACK AND WHITE TO PASTEL TO BOLDER COLOURS. ALTHOUGH THE COLLECTION WASN'T AS EXTRAVAGANT AS SOMETHING BY MR. GALLIANO OR PARTICULARLY OUT THERE, I LIKED CERTAIN PIECES AS I'M A SUCKER FOR MONOCHROME AND BOLD PRINTS. ALL IN ALL I THOUGHT THE SHOW'S AESTHETIC WAS RATHER GOOD! MUSIC BY DAFT PUNK AND CONFIDENT WOMEN STRUTTING THEIR STUFF IN NICE CLOTHES. I'M REALLY GLAD I GOT A CHANCE TO GO TO THIS SHOW AND GET TO SEE SOMETHING NEW FOR ME.

FULL LENGTH SHOTS.

CLOSER SHOTS.

CATWALK.

FINALE.

ANIMAL LIKE ME.

When I'd moved up to University for my Degree in September after my Foundation Diploma, my wonderful friends/house mates and I ventured out on a jungle themed night at a local bar/club. My love for stripes took over and I decided to go styled as a zebra. I'd never dressed up as one before and thought although the make-up would be simple, would just be a bit of fun. My Make-up consisted of my usual black, striking eyebrows and black liquid eyeliner on the top lids, but I brought the flicks out quite far to make them look more dainty. I applied a lot of white highlighter to make my eyes look wider, false eyelashes that were large and pointed and resembled the wonderful eyelashes of a zebra, and created stripes onto my face using a variety of different black and white cosmetics to see what worked best. I sculpted a large quiff and a back-combed ponytail to represent a mane. My clothes were simple and consisted of a striped t-shirt, a black high waisted skirt, black tights & black shoes. It was just a fun piece of styling for a night out that we all dressed up for & had a good time.

BOWS UP!

Although the 'Hair Bow' style has been around for a while, I finally decided that I had/needed to know how to do them. My wonderful friend/house mate Chhimmi and I watched some tutorial videos and started putting our newly gained knowledge into practice. Armed with a mountain of bobby pins, we had a practice and successfully mastered the bows. It was a lot of fun and its always wonderful learning new things.

CHHIMMI'S STYLING ON ME.

MY STYLING ON CHHIMMI.

TOTALLY WIRED!

On a few occasions I've had the chance to do some event photography at a local alternative club that I've been going to for a few years now in my home town. My favourite event to photograph was Halloween 2010, everybody was dressed up as some crazy characters, in steriotypical halloween costumes or in more scary realistic dress. It was a chance to have some fun with my lovely friends, take some wonderful photos that I could treasure and that the club could use to advertise. I thought I'd put up some of my favourite photographs from the events.

Other popular nights at the club are the UV nights they put on. Everybody seems to get in the mood, and in at least some way contribute themselves to the ultra-violet cause. These are some of my favourite photos from UV6.

RAGS TO RICHES

During my Foundation Diploma in Art & Design (specialising in fashion) last year, we were given a project under the name 'UPCYCLING'. The idea was to take common items or materials with lesser value and 'upcycle' them into garments and/or accessories with higher value. My inspiration for the designs came from the 1940s/1950s as I have always had a deep love for these eras and seem to, in at least in some way, incorporate them into all of my work. For these garments i used mostly household materials and odd fabrics.

MY STYLING: DISH CLOTH

MY STYLING: 1. SHOPPING BAGS/ODD STRIPED FABRIC/DUVET COVER .2. ODD STRIPED FABRIC/NETTING FROM A PRESENT .3. FABRIC FROM MARKET/OLD CUT UP SKIRT

 By this point during my foundation year, the different departments of fashion had become more prominent, and students had split off into either fashion/fashion & textiles/textiles OR promotion and imaging. Through my love for fashion photography and illustration my clear choice was the promotion and imaging route. The 'Upcycling' project was finished off with a runway show displaying the designs and prints from the students on the course.The design and styling portion of this project was very short for P&I students, we had a long road of organising the event. We were sent off in charge of organising the fashion show and every element that went with it including raising money, advertising, securing a venue, music, lighting, visual presentations and fashion filming during the show, model castings, inviting an audience, the running order and the general running of the show and backstage.

CAKE SALE: GETTING INVOLVED AND MAKIN' DOLLAR! WE ALL TEAMED UP AND MADE SOME YUMMY TREATS TO HELP RAISE MONEY FOR THE 'UPCYCLING' EVENT. IN TOTAL WE MADE ABOUT £125 WHICH WAS WONDERFUL.

CAKE SALE: BEAUTIFUL AND DELICIOUS. 

CAKE SALE: WE ALSO HAD A SECTION WITH HAND MADE CARDS AND JEWELLRY. 

CREEPY CRAWLIES!

During my Foundation Diploma in Art & Design last year I specialised in Fashion & Textiles. One of my first projects was in small groups and insect inspired. I researched a variety of bugs for inspiration to complete our 3 layered creation. We decided to not only explore the outer appearance, but the insides as well. The outer layer represented the hard, extremely structured scale-like, layered shell, followed by a simple skeleton-like structure, ending in the gentle soft tissue from beneath. I'd say the main source of inspiration for this design was a centipede, although not the most extravagant in appearance, the fact we explored beneath the surface gave our garment an edge. I was in charge of make-up but we also worked together as a team making the garment itself, we allocated different jobs to make the most of our time and resources. 

CLOSE UP OF INNER DESIGN.

SNAP-SHOTS FROM PHOTO AND FILM SHOOT.

STYLING BEFORE THE FASHION SHOW.

PRE-SHOW: I WAS PART OF THE FASHION PROMOTION TEAM AS WELL AS DESIGN.

FASHION SHOW.

FASHION SHOW.

FASHION SHOW.