The Peplum Project

I've made clothes before, but they've tended to be made from scraps of fabric I've wound around my body, bothering my mum to pin in place, then sewing messily together on my sewing machine. "That'll do", I thought, despite the item being somewhat mangled. Nobody ever sees the inside, right?

Well, what tends to happen is that I don't wear said homemade clothes, as they fit badly, or are just downright poorly constructed. Happily I have now learnt the error of my ways, and have constructed a skirt correctly - from designing the pattern to the final pressing - and am overjoyed with the result!

The most exciting part for me was the digital printing. After designing the pattern it was printed in the art block at university. Imagine having one of these printers at home! You'd never have to buy an item of clothing again.








From the initial Photoshop design (I played with pixellating images) to the final stage, steaming

For those who are interested, the skirt's pattern is a basic skirt block, using my own measurements. Each piece is overlocked, then sewn together; I used a 20cm lapped zip. I printed 1 metre of fabric and had just enough left over to make a peplum, using a gathering foot to create the frill. Add a waistband, et voila, my finished skirt!




I enjoyed making it, but I'm afraid I won't be taking orders any time soon - the amount of unpicking and resewing I had to do almost drove me nuts. The whole process really made me appreciate just how hard garment producers work, and how difficult it is to get clothing as perfect as it needs to be for a shop floor.

Worn with a simple leather tee here to really show off the colour and pattern; I can see myself using colours from the print to wear on top and clashing it with other patterns. Utterly wearable!

Make Florals Groundbreaking

Visual Madness

Check out my mad crazy visual skills! One of the reasons I chose my degree is that along with studying business, marketing, accounting, garment production and Photoshop, I got the chance to install a window display for a visual merchandising module. Today was the big day.

Initially inspired by Stella McCartney's spring/summer 2012 collection, I looked into tropical prints and vintage Hawaii; I was also helped out by my friends at Oasis, whose current collection of printed dresses fitted my idea perfectly.

I am super pleased with the result. Unfortunately due to the sun being so bright today the pictures didn't come out too great, but here they are for your perusal:

Black White Denim Get Intimate: SS12

Clients, press, and bloggers alike attended the Black White Denim spring/summer 2012 salon show on Thursday night. Greeted with both champagne and hugs at the door, the friendly atmosphere of the store was the ideal location for this intimate gathering.

Black White Denim's MD and Founder, Jo Davies, explained to the crowd that Emma and Kirsty - the show's models - were both local mums who demanded their clothes be easy to style and hard-working; after all, like most of us, they suffer from a lack of time, along with a passion to look good. Jo considered different challenges a modern woman must face in her day-to-day life, and styled BWD outfits to suit.


Effortless Cool for School
These were touted as classic BWD looks. According to Jo, the J Brand Maria jeans (left) are "like wearing a pair of black opaques", and you can go down a size when trying. Bonus. The Zoe Karssen joggers are amazing - these were probably my favourite piece of the show. I'd never normally wear sweat pants but the almost-tailored cut and bat print are something special. Styled with modern ankle boots (rag & bone on the left, Acne Pistols on the right) these cool looks will set you apart from all the other mums at the school gate.


Shop 'Til You Drop
How cute is this Markus Lupfer knit? Worn over 811 J Brand Black Cherry skinnies (DID YOU KNOW: the 8 is the measurement in inches of the rise, and 11 is the measurement around the bottom of the leg! One of Jo's many insider tips) it's a super-easy look to thrown on before a trip to the shops. The Theyskens' Theory jacket on the right caused quite a stir in the crowd, with its boxy Chanel-esque shape with a twist; another snippet of info from Jo is that Olivier Theyskens' signature is a "V" shape on the back neckline and back hem of a garment, creating the perfect hang. BWD staff had to keep a sharp eye out when said jacket was passed around the crowd for us all to cop a feel!


More Than Just A One Night Stand


Husam El Odeh ringDespite its cheeky name, this theme was one after my own heart: yes, you want to get a new dress for a special event, but make it one you can wear again and again, for many different occasions. The digital print silk Acne dress may be a showstopper, but its little secret is its pockets; Jo can often feel "stiff and awkward" at a formal event, but having pockets makes her feel relaxed. The second outfit is actually a By Malene Birger jumpsuit - the leg split being between the pleat - which again sports pockets (hoorah!) and can be styled alternatively for your hols with a Theyskens Theory open-knit top and a pair of By Malene Birger sandals.




Jean Genius

Coloured denim. Seriously scary, right? Not so with the help of Jo. Take the colour of your jeans and wear a printed top to correspond; here we have J Brand Rivieras with an Equipment shirt on the left, Paige Verdugos and a Theyskens' Theory jumper on the right. For an alternative look, wear with a white tee, or a black blazer from a dramatic style. A word of warning from Jo, however: pastel jeans are difficult to wear, so if you have body issues, they may not be for you.

Cute styling details - ice-cream Acne Pistols and a Cinderela Bee Bea bracelet.




Queen Victoria
Oh, Victoria, Victoria Beckham. What a career turnaround. From singing dodgy songs with that one from Another Level, to creating beautiful, wearable dresses. Did you know Net-a-porter are the only retailer allowed to sell Victoria's diffusion collection online? That's why it's so special that somewhere local stocks the pieces. The dresses "totally speak for themselves", and the models concur with Jo that they are very comfortable to wear. Love, LOVE the cat print: notice how only one cat is electric blue. Style with electric blue shoes and clutch for a fashion-forward look. Cute!


Come Fly With Me
Jo solves the age-old dilemma of what to wear when flying by adding lots and lots of layers. Maxi dresses, leggings, cardigans and scarves can all be stripped off and thrown back on as and when necessary, and can also have alternative uses when in the middle of a long flight; as a headpillow or a children's blanket, for example. Get the look with the By Malene Birger striped dress and scarf (left) and a rag & bone maxi dress and 2nd Day scarf (right). Check out the back detail of the maxi:




I loved how many fashion insider tips and styling ideas Jo gave out during the show, and I do fear I have missed some. My best advice would be to pop into the Wilmslow store and have a really good chinwag with her! Her passion for style and her store are evident. The success of Black White Denim does not lie solely within its beautifully created stock - it is the friendly, knowledgeable service which keeps clients coming back again and again. To (cringefully) paraphrase Cheers, you've got to go where everybody knows your name - and that is not something you will get that from your average high street retailer.


BWD Vibes..






Super-cool store design & VM



Bloggers Pearl & Lawrence loving the BWD collection


A client's awesome Balenciaga shoes..


..Even more awesome hair from BWD's Libby


Yours truly, with Clare and Lawrence respectively


Can you spotty a Dotty?

Fiona McIntosh: News And Shoes

The past few years have seen an extraordinary change in print media, thanks to the digital revolution. "We were terrified of it", says Fiona McIntosh at the Manchester Fashion Network's "Evening With" event earlier this week. Ever the innovator, McIntosh set about trying to find a way for digital and print to work together.

Originally a newspaper journalist in Australia "a million years ago", McIntosh moved to the UK and quickly became editor of Company magazine. I asked how she stood out to be taken on for this role: she heard the position was coming up, pestered and pestered for an interview, and made an amazing mock-up of the mag. Job in the bag. After that role, and 4 years spent at Elle, McIntosh was approached by Emap for ideas as they found themselves left without a women's glossy. "Why not a fashion weekly?" suggested McIntosh. Emap were delighted with this idea, having been eyeing Italy's Grazia magazine.




Fiona McIntosh in the Grazia days. Image from the Daily Mail

And so in February 2005, Grazia was born. I, along with many, many other fashion-obsessed females, have never looked back; I'm really not sure what I would do without my weekly Grazia fix. McIntosh established the Grazia tone and the distinctive design and layout. This love of bang-on copy is something McIntosh is known for within the industry.

Nowadays McIntosh is dabbling in the world of fashion retail, working recently with my-wardrobe.com with their recent successful re-branding. McIntosh took us through the steps.

1: New photography. McIntosh is as captivated as the rest of us with street style photography, which is reflected in the site. Apparently it's also "cheap to do"!

2: Change the tone. Concise, sophisticated yet friendly copy is key here, with all Americanisms banned.

3: Site redesign, using a very of-the-minute model across the site and promotional materials.

4: Use of style guides, enhancing the online experience with a print style guide.

5: Create media/retail hybrid, working with a junior team and layering on more experienced consultants when necessary - such as commissioning Polly Vernon to write a snappy piece for the site.




my-wardrobe.com screencap, 21st March 2012

Fiona McIntosh believes that the fashion monthlies are "big old monsters" (and she's right - when Vogue featured Fashion's Night Out two months later I skimmed over it. I had already been saturated with online information) with their lieu time being six weeks. Surely there was a way of presenting it faster - at a pace which matched fast fashion? McIntosh believes that the "mashing of media and retail is really interesting at the moment", and although it is difficult to judge the future of fashion media, the way forward may be to use print media to enhance the digital content, and monetising that content with the use of eTail.

I really appreciated Fiona's quiet-but-clear tone, and loved that she spoke in Grazia-isms - lots of "OMG" and "bang-on". Her final words of advice? "Stay on top of what's happening - who's doing what - are there any innovations you could use?"

Fiona stated that she, too, started out as an intern, and she is a fantastic example of how far you can get with talent and a whole load of hard work.