Tangent Issue Four- Digitopia

Digitopia is my latest styling venture for Tangent Magazine and although there were no real people the principles were exactly the same.
This project went through many stages of creative conversation before it eventually came to life. There were changes in approach, changes in story board but at the end of the day the objective was always the same to create an artistic shoot, that lept off the page, featuring the best of the best in Digital Prints from SS1011 and equally vivacious accessories.
The process of bringing it to life went something like this...First there was the process of selecting the dynamic prints that would be the second skin of the beautiful figures drawn by Annika Wester and then there was the all encompassing task of finding the accessories to make a truly 'psychedelic' look- as per the brief.Finally Tangents very talented art director Lloyd McAlister and I sat down to the chore of putting it all together et voila!It was a great project to be apart of and the outcome well...it speaks for itself.

To see Tangent Digital Unlimited Issue Four in Full go to http://tangentmag.com/fashion-magazine/tangent02.html

Mouring the Magic

This week when I was asked to write the couture wrap up for Tangent, the very thing that normally fills me with butterflies and gets me chatting away like a nutter, I'm so inspired, my mouth went a little dry....what was I going to say?

Last week I blogged about the opening show, Christian Dior, which had the aforementioned positive affect on me. After that I went strangely silent no? Well that wasn't the end of the goosebumps but they were few and far between.

The Givenchy show had by far the most "paralyzingly amazed" effect on me. Every dress carved the body (literally) in detail. Lace, satin, silk, porcelain and pearl and crystal beading created their own skeleton on top of a skeleton. The collection managed to surpass the gothic notion that could easily have enveloped it and instead settled somewhere in the realms of ethereal beauty. 

The other show that awed me was Mr. Invisible, Maison Martin Margiela and again it was the detail that got me. Recycled lizard, snake and crocodile clutches dismantled and patched together into whole garments. Genius. The effect was a coarsely captivating textural collage of detail.

And the rest well this is the part that leaves my mouth dry...the rest was little more than amazing ready to wear. Beautiful tailoring, a few flurries of extravagance, a little bit of theatricality, but nothing to leave you weak at the knees.

The couture runways are something I look forward to like many others as a chance to be inspired by the awesome power of the human imagination, to be awe-struck by the detail and care that is so absent in our fast paced lives today, to be wooed by romance, to be transported to another world where the magic that flowed within us so freely as children is a real life force at work again. Needless to say this couture lover was more than a little disappointed.
Read my full wrap up here

My very own love affair with Mrs. Jones

A few months ago I stumbled across an article about London designer Fee Doran and her charismatic wearable costume/couture label.
The article was discussing the iconic costumes she had created for big name musicians including Duran Duran, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, The Scissor Sisters, The Killers and many more. It also unveiled her collection for Oxfam and I thought anyone who can make such artistic yet wearable and totally left of centre stylish garments from people's left overs is someone worth finding out more about!
This week I shared what I found out about Fee Doran with Tangent Magazine. We discussed everything from her latest collections and collaborations to her own outrageous style and her child hood hero Mr. Benn.
This was an education itself, being before my time, I had never heard of this imaginary little man and his fantastic costume inspired adventures, but now that I have I think I kind of idolize him too.
Fee's charismatic charm is as overt as her designs. She is certainly a lady to look up to in terms of creativity, personality and a fearless expression of both.
Read my full article here

Floral magic at Dior

I couldn't let this show slide by without publicly expressing my love for it. Diors Fall haute couture collection was ironically the spirit of spring. Girls appeared on the runway looking like lavish bouquets of colourful blooms in every colour and size.
Galliano's colour palate was superior to that of mother nature herself, dresses and skirts were imbued with graphic floral prints or soft graduating rainbows of colour.
The Dior runway was like a prism in the sunlight, each piece generated it's own dizzying pattern of colours creating a hypnotizing effect.
Skirts shaped like tulips wafted out onto the runway stealing the show from the signature Dior silhouettes.
Raffia belts tied it all up and milliner Stephen Jones topped the look off with head gear reminiscent of florists wrapping.
The whole show was like a wonderland of floral magic, a true vision of beauty, just as fashion should always be.
Dior will be a hard act to follow this season!

Image Source http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/F2010CTR-CDIOR?page=2

The Master and The Miss

The Master and the Miss was a photoshoot I did with the very talented Miss Anastasia Blades (who has since left me for New York,) back in May. The rest of our team consisted of Kaori Harigae, who did the hair and make up and Kirsty Macphail from Viviens who was our model.
The concept of The Master and the Mass came about whilst Anastasia and I were having coffee in a French cafe, we were throwing ideas up in the air and this one landed with a loud thud, we knew this was the shoot we wanted to do.
My brain immediately started speeding away and before too long I had a shopping list consisting of paper doilies, pink body paint and white bandages.
I commandeered my very talented friend and milliner extraordinaire Wendi Nutt from Philadelphia Philpot Millinery to make me some gorgeous paper doily hats, ( you are going to hear more about this very multi-talented woman very soon,) and began looking for garments with a showgirl meets ballerina look.
The night before was a frenzy of bandage shredding (very therapeutic if you have ever had a bad day) and wrapping and layering on the body.
On the day we incorporated the pattern of the edge of the doilies onto Kylie's eyes and decolletage to add a strong textured feel to the shoot and I wrapped the bandages around her upper body and lower arms. The hair was teased and rolled and just kept getting bigger and bigger until we felt we had our very own aristocratic showgirl ballerina.
This shoot was all about the attention to detail in the layers and carrying those details through to the make up and skin.
At then end of the day Anastasia and I were both exhausted but elated. For me, this shoot was not inspired by a specific concept or mood or emotion, although they were all part of it, it was very much about a girl and watching my little Miss come to life was an insanely enriching experience and to this day she is still dancing strongly in my mind and I hope she will dance on in yours too.WORLD top, SOPHIA JOCELYN corset, MISS UNKON tutu, SNOG THE FROG tutu worn underneath, WORLD leggings, MINTY MEETS MUNT shoes, PHILADELPHIA PHILPOT MILLINERY hat, SNOG THE FROG bow tie
SALLY JONES bra, JAY AND MIKES VINTAGE suspender belt, MINTY MEETS MUNT stockings, DE COCO COLLECTABLES gloves, SNOG THE FROG cuff, ADORNE necklaces, PHILADELPHIA PHILPOT MILLINERY hat

GAIL SORRONDA dress, SALLY JONES bra worn underneath, WORLD leggings, MINTY MEETS MUNT shoes, CHERRY MORRIS necklace and brooch, Make up artists own headpieceMISS UNKON scarf, ZAMBESI tops worn underneath, MISS UNKON leggings, CHERRY MORRIS belt, MINTY MEETS MUNT shoes, DE COCO COLLECTABLES gloves, Stylist’s own briefs, Make up artists own headpiece

SALLY JONES bra, WORLD skirt, SNOG THE FROG bow tie, TOM GUNN shoes, DE COCO COLLECTABLES gloves, Stylist’s own stockings, Make up artists own headpiece
BEC AND BRIDGE bodysuit, SALLY JONES bra worn underneath, SNOG THE FROG tutus, TOM GUNN shoes, MINTY MEETS MUNT heart clip, Stylists own stockings, Make up artists own headpiece
RACHAEL CASSAR dress, MINTY MEETS MUNT skirt worn underneath, SNOG THE FROG white tutu worn underneath, MINTY MEETS MUNT stockings, MINTY MEETS MUNT shoes, DE COCO COLLECTABLES gloves, PHILADELPHIA PHILPOT MILLINERY hat, Stylists own bow tie worn as belt

THE LAST ROMANTIC dress, RACHAEL CASSAR veil, MINTY MEETS MUNT stockings, MINTY MEETS MUNT shoes, SNOG THE FROG gloves

Discovery of the week

I was trawling one of my new favourite sites for inspiration , trendland, this week and boy did I find some, or should I say someone.
I stumbled upon the very talented designer, Anne Sofie Madsen, who graduated from The Danish Design School in 2009. I have long declared myself a fan of Danish of design and this collection certainly lives up to what I have come to expect from the innovative nation.
Anne Sofie Madsen's graduate collection Tiki-Mania-Maori was an abstract take on traditional Maori motifs from braiding to carving and tattoos. One of their most prominent mythical characters is the bird woman and Anne Sofie Madsen's garments were like a contemporary costume for this ancient character, with out a single feather, totally ingenious! Laser cut leather, and shoe laces instead of flax strips also gave the ancient materials a mod makeover. I was totally inspired by her ability to take everyday materials and not only relate them to something so culturally recognized, but make them into something prescient at the same time. She took the ever popular notion of combining the primitive and the classic to a whole unique place.

Images from http://www.dkds.dk/Afgangsprojekter/2009/AnneSofieMadsen

Jeremy Dante the Face of Fashion Blogging

I was lucky enough to interview Jeremy Dante one of the revered male voices of the fashion blogging world for Tangent Digital two weeks ago.
I am particularly attached to this self described "know it all" for a few reasons, one his blog is about more than his latest wardrobe purchases, don't get me wrong I love seeing the ensembles of all of fashion's female bloggers as much as the next style obsessed girl but there is something very refreshing about hearing a male voice with a strong opinion on beauty.
The other reason I love Jeremy is because like me his perception of beauty has been shaped by a child hood love of all things fantastical, Cinderella and her glass slipper, Tinkerbell and Snow White, villains, princesses and all those other lovable creatures.
Finding that same excitement and fantasy in the fashion world today and sharing it in an informative way is what Jeremy does best and for this reason he is one of my chosen sources for daily inspiration.
See my full interview with Jeremy on Tangent Digital here