PURE LONDON - AUG 2012

I had the wonderful opportunity to work backstage as a dresser at Pure London again this August - it's the UK's leading fashion trading event and the place to be for existing and up and coming fashion brands. It's fantastic to witness this season's new collections from brands old and new, especially in action on the runway. The event sources hundreds of womenswear, young fashion, footwear, accessory, childrenswear and ethical fashion brands, with a HUGE range in different styles. As the number of dressers was slightly higher this year, we only dressed two of the four shows this time around, and dressing 4 shows a day gave us a little more time to admire what the event had to offer.

Above are some shots I took around the venue - Kensington Olympia. At a higher level you could really take in how huge the event really was, and that was only part of one section! (LARGE LEFT). Here are also some shots around the stalls, a sweet little cafe with lovely striped garden chairs and garden gnome stalls. The 'fabulous' bar and a shot of a season trend talk on the young fashion catwalk stage.

Above are photographs of some accessory stalls on the upper floor of the venue. The first and largest image is of some beautiful pieces from the collection by Pearls and Girls. The lovely handbag stall accompanied by a chandelier belonged to brand Juno, and the very cute, gold encrusted handbag and purse stall belonged to the brand Lie Down I Think I Love You.

  Above are some more accessory stalls. On the left is a lovely lady from the Vivien Sheriff stall sporting an incredible fascinator from their wonderful hat and fascinator collection. The photograph in the top right is a shot of the completely beautiful stall decoration at Disaster, and below are the simple yet OH-so-chic touches at the Orelia stall - I especially loved the vintage bottles used to display some of their lovely necklaces.

Above are new collection shoes from Bourne England, Iron Fist & Supertrash (LEFT TO RIGHT).

 Stalls from brands Darling, Mat De Misaine, Sebastian Ellrich and Supertrash (ABOVE).

I particularly liked how chic the Darling stall was with the floral china, and how bold the Supertrash stall was.

Stalls from Uttam Boutique, Emmy, Kat Von D - Los Angeles & Fever (ABOVE).

I'm a complete lover of 1940/50's fashion and fell in love with pieces in Emmy's collection. I also had a soft spot for the more alternative fashion pieces in Kat Von D's collection.

I absolutely loved the ladies on the Poppy stall, they were oh so lovely and

 their collection was VERY sweet! - 19050's style with a twist.

The extravagant sheer and lace pieces are from brand Catwalk Collections, 

the very sweet check dress and friends from Cutie and the simple nautical collection from Nissa.

Here are some cheeky shots from clothes rails at various stalls. I wanted to show the variation in colour, texture, print and style throughout the show. Above are collections from Almatrichi, Caramelo, Daisy May, Forever Unique, Frau Blau, Kuccia, Kat Von D, Olimara, Part Two and Rino & Pelle as well as others.

Above is a small selection of photographs I took at the Womenswear catwalk show, showcasing collections from brands such as Bourne England, Derhy, Catwalk Collections, Vivid Flair and Sarah Pacini. 

 Above and below are some of the photographs I took backstage in the dressing room of the Young Fashion (Spirit) catwalk where I was dressing. ABOVE- in the photo on the top left are the shoes my lovely model, Bruna Miranda used in the Spirit shows, and in the bottom right are a snap of some of the clothes on her rail. Dotted around are some photos of the models, all of which were absolutely lovely. The fantastic choreographer, Oke, (TOP RIGHT) really knew what he was doing and one of the coolest guys ever. 

Above are a few shots of my Brazillian model Bruna Miranda with Kat Nemcova, the Slovakian beauty with a real talent. Both girls were absolutely lovely and SO gorgeous! There are also some photos in the dressing room in and out of showtime. In the bottom left are the incredible Jeffrey Campbell platforms that were paired up with my Kat Von D look. 

I worked with items from brands such as Iron Fist, Kat Von D - Los Angeles, Forever Unique, AngelEye, Little Mistress, Glamorous, Danity and Influence. 

I really enjoy working backstage- you get to dress with some beautiful clothes, work with some gorgeous models and meet some lovely people. It's very exciting working behind the scenes in the hustle and bustle of a fashion show! Such a wonderful experience. 

(ABOVE)We managed to grab a quick glance of our girls on the catwalk during the final walk on 

the last show of the last day - it was a weirdly proud moment and a lovely end to Pure August 2012.

SAID BETTER IN RED

Everybody loves trying out new cosmetics, whether it’s nail varnish, eyeliner or false eyelashes, and being a curious individual with a passion for the 1940s and 1950s, I’m in love with red lipstick. Recently I have been hunting for a stunning dark red, burgundy like shade, but the task is proving to be more difficult than I’d originally thought to find that perfect colour. Whilst venturing around town , I popped into Poundland, the place for occasional necessities and rare gems, and fell upon a pack of three Sally Hansen cosmetics for the wonderful price of, you guessed it, £1. There were a fair few varieties of assorted products, but I was drawn to one pack in particular that included a gorgeous dark red lipstick. The pack consisted of  ‘Line Smoothing Mineral Lip Treatment’ in Rose Quartz, ‘Hard as Nails/Hard as Wraps’ nail varnish in Heartbeat Crème and ‘Colour Comfort Lip Colour’ lipstick in Sangria. For £1 it was only right to give it a go. I’ve used Sally Hansen nail varnishes before and they proved to be fairly long-lasting and come in beautiful shades, but never have I tried the lipsticks, which, to be completely honest on this occasion, I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. Despite the fact the colour was not as dark as I thought it would’ve been, it was still gorgeous. The lipstick itself was too moist and shiny and would soften and pale at the slightest touch, making it impossible to blot before using a lipstick sealant. Although the lipstick wasn’t very successful and long-lasting, I don’t regret buying the pack at all. There’s still the lip-gloss/lip treatment & nail varnish to test out, and the lipstick could still be used for future shoots. 

The search for the perfect red lipstick continues. 

PAYING HOMAGE TO MR. LYNCH

At the end of my very quick 1st year on my degree course, we were given 3 options to chose from for our final project/personal pathway review, I decided to focus my work on the wonderful Mr. David Lynch. As we had now veered off into pathways, I was now mainly heading down the photography and styling route in my work. For my projects final piece I took inspiration from scenes in short and full length films by the man himself. Although it was a fairly simple idea, I wanted to create a magazine spread that was paying homage and dedicated to Lynch. 

Although Vogue is an extremely well known and mainstream magazine, I have taken layout ideas from articles I have seen within it, as they have published features based on individuals within the art community and surrounding areas. I wanted to create a real likeness and feel for David Lynch's work within my photographs, and create the same visual effect found in the films that support my images from the styling to the emotional depth. 

My photographs have taken inspiration from 'Eraserhead' (1977), 'Wild at Heart' (1990), 'Blue Velvet' (1986), 'The Grandmother' (1970) and 'Dune' (1984).