A box of treasures

Gill Morgan’s gorgeous collection of 1920’s vintage outfits. A box filled with stunning dresses, little tops, hats, and other hair accessories. It is impossible, without seeing these first hand, to appreciate the true delicacy and beauty of these garments. It breaks my heart when you look at the 21st century, one of a fast fashion and throwaway culture, you just can’t compare it to these vintage pieces. The beading is amazing, the detail impeccable. The heaviness of the garments is unbelievable as they are on such fine sheers; however it’s the beads that make it so heavy, not like beading now a days. I find Gill’s collection really inspirational and it makes me want to revive the passion for clothing and attention to detail that our ancestors had, one that I feel has been sucked out of today’s fashion world.

Valentino ROCKS

Valentino’s spring summer 2010 collection is stunning. The colour palette is the first thing that draws my attention. It is subtle with nudes, pinks, marl greys. The second thing that comes to mind is the intense detail within the collection. Each garment is very different from the last one; a range of different techniques and fabrics are used with the consistency of the colour palette remaining throughout.

photos from www.style.com

Valentino’s feminine and romantic collection has inspired my current project for indigo, with the attention to detail and delicacy. Below are some current samples i have been working on.

My travels to MILAN

I ♥ MILAN


Known as one of the leading fashion capitals, I have always wanted to go to Milan and see what all the fuss was about. It certainly lived up to any expectations I may have had. The city is beautiful; it didn’t have the rush and buzz like London does, instead it is a more peaceful and relaxed place. I found this great as I was able to fully take in the gorgeous buildings and architecture. This was one of the things I loved most about Milan. Everywhere you looked; the buildings were decorated with elaborate carvings and shaped stone.

At the heart of the city was one of the most beautiful buildings I had ever seen, the Duomo. The first thing I said when I saw it was WOW. The cathedral centred in the heart of the city is strikingly beautiful and breathtaking. Inside, was much the same. There was so much to look at, so much detail and beauty. I loved the peacefulness of it all and the areas of darkness mixed with the lightness from the candles.

The city is a very inspiring place. I remember sitting in a small Italian cafe with my hot chocolate watching the people go by. I noticed that the women are very glamorous and slick, dressed mostly in black they were very fashionable.
Shopping in Milan is much more high-end than high street; however it was a good opportunity for me to look at designer’s clothes and appreciate the great quality and craftsmanship that is different to the high street.

My favourite place in Milan was Corso Como. The little Italian restaurants were so cute and the shops screamed luxury. Corso Como number 10 was amazing. A 3 story shop hidden in a botanical garden. The 1st floor was overwhelming, a room filled with designer jewellery, clothes and house furnishings. The jewellery in particular was incredible I had never seen anything like it, I wanted it all. Unfortunately with such large price tags I had to just dream instead. It was however extremely worthwhile because it gave me inspiration for my final collection and even for my current collection for indigo.

Overall my trip to Milan was amazing. Although I didn’t have many shopping bags to return home with, I did however have ideas and inspiration to carry forth into my future collection. The buildings are stunning and the history is fascinating, Milan is defiantly a place I would recommend, and a place I would love to return to. X

Inspire me

The brief: A collection of fronts to be taken to Paris, exhibited at premier vision's Indigo.

I found the Ironwork room in the V&A extremely striking and a room which allowed my creativity to flow, stimulating me with lots of exciting ideas for the brief. The work is very architectural and I was imagining garment edges shaped in similar ways to the wrought iron.

Photos I took in the V&A's Ironwork room

SHOWSTUDIO

http://www.showstudio.com

WOW!! - was my first impression of this exhibition, The colours; the concept; this way of communicating design is fresh & innovative.

My favourite parts of the exhibition was seeing the Balenciaga jacket; the detail is gorgeous with such fine lace, the type of garment that you have to see first hand, photos just don't do it justice. The Frieze by Nick Knight & Gareth Pugh was another part of the exhibition that I really connected with. The Frieze is raw, luminous & Metallic photography. Its so energetic, its like he has captured a childs dream. Nick Knight has reached a new levels of genuineness with this piece. I LOVE HIM!!

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes,

snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,


silver white winters that melt into springs,


these are a few of my favorite things.

Lauren LOVES..........

Laura Laine

STUNNING breathtaking HAUNTINGLY beautiful IMAGINATIVE memorable ALLURING enchanting SEDUCTIVE captivating

One of my favourite illustrators, Laura Laine continues to inspire me...........

I love how she captures movement in her illustrations, she makes the figures alive and tells a story with the way she draws their bodies.

The combination of tonal drawing and colour works particularly well, it alows the garment design to stand out and overall as an illustration it creates an interesting contrast.

http://www.lauralaine.net/

Lauren LOVES................

Jewellery & Vintage

I have boxes and boxes full of jewellery that I have collected over a long period of time. From costume jewellery to vintage pieces I love the variation within each piece I collect. I find the details realy inspirational, and love using my jewellery to style my clothes.

Danielle SPECKER... Historic costume talk

Having the opportunity to see firsthand such historic beautiful garments was extremely exciting. It was incredible to understand that the fine fabrics start to deconstruct and decompose due to the treatments that was done on them when they were made.

The beading, embroidery and vintage lace were particularly inspiring to me. It reminded me of the detail and perfection that was so important in the 18th century and it left me thinking how the fast fashion culture of the 21st century has destroyed the historical beauty vision.


1900's jacket, with appliqued blue silk

The lace applique on this fabric is really

1920's pleated knickers, extremely delicate and fragile

1920's beaded dress on silk

Lauren LOVES..........

Brett Weston Photographs

Vintage White Sands, 1947

Cracked Paint, 1955

His photography delivers such a sharp and abstract approach to capturing his subject. The strong contrast between the black and white makes these photos very powerful and endearing.