BEYOND AVERAGE

Exam season is well and truly upon us. If you can't hear the sound of students tearing their hair out then you can definitely tell from the quiet of the blogosphere.. everyone's got their heads down revising, or rather trying to learn an entire year's worth of work in one week. Me.. well, I actually quite like exams; the pressure makes me work harder and ultimately gets me a better mark than most of my coursework. I am still feeling the effects though, I've been wearing the same Sugar High jumper and ripped jeans for the past week, sweating my way through Financial Management, International Business and Fashion Marketing revision.

Part of my Product Development final mark is a presentation, which I did with my partner Zabrina to a room of tutors and industry professionals last week. Weirdly enough I enjoy doing presentations too, and doing this one about our own fantasy store was the best yet. We put together everything for our shop Beyond from the target market, business plan and marketing objectives, to the in-store layout and window display. Our USP was that we were a plus-size store, but aimed at women aged 18-25, with seriously fashion forward stuff. Think Nasty Gal for size 14 and up. It was so much fun and we really loved our brand, so much so that we almost wanted to launch it. Almost. Not sure I am quite ready for the plunge into business yet.

Business dress was the requirement for the presentation so that got me out of my jumper and jeans, but I couldn't resist putting a twist on it and looking on-brand for the shop. This is my favourite outfit ever so don't be surprised if you see me outfit-repeat in the future. It's actually a Christmas dress and I think it originally cost about £150 ish full price, so I couldn't resist when I saw it in the sale for fifty squid. Of course I'll wear it at Crimbo but I don't think it' too festive to wear the rest of the year as well. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself!

I'm wearing:

Emma Cook at Topshop dress

Oasis blouse

Jeffrey Campbell Pointe shoes

(there's some on eBay right now)

I've got a giveaway live for a neon orange Glamorous cropped knit! Go go go.

SUNNY DAY SWEEPIN' THE CLOUDS AWAY

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?

I've been locked in my living room busily working on my CAD portfolio (with a window, luckily) but I did manage to get two hours outside on the grass yesterday. It really was dream weather, best we've had yet, and I would so love summer to carry on like this. Doesn't need to get any hotter, I'm perfectly happy in this, wearing a t-shirt and bare legs.

My CAD portfolio was handed in this morning which means I am now only three exams and one presentation away from finishing my second year of university. Crazy how time goes so fast but also seems to drag, especially when you're doing boring assignments.. I don't care about the "it's not the work that's boring, it's you" thing teachers used to say, some things really are dull, like a garment comparison I handed in last week. The whole thing struggled to hold my attention and in the end I just got fed up and didn't do the greatest job. You'd think I would be old enough to work hard on things with enough time to spare but nope, I still find it hard concentrating on things which don't interest me, even for the sake of my degree!

I've been thinking of my position as a mature student a lot recently, and I'm not sure it's something I'd recommend to everybody. It's difficult coming away from a full time wage, that's a given, but it's also tough working to support yourself as well as doing assignments, looking after a home, and keeping a relationship together: plus the older you are the more likely you are to have to care for your elders, too. If the now me could talk to the me at the time of applying I'd probably advise against it, but as it stood getting a degree was the only way forward for me. Now I'd say network, intern, then network and intern some more.. which, again, is not easy with a full time job.

So I guess what I'm saying is that getting into the fashion industry is not easy whichever way you go at it, especially if you're above an age where it's acceptable for your parents to fund you through your education. You've just got to believe it will all be worth it in the end.

I'm wearing:

Wildfox tee & sunglasses

Vintage skirt

Ralph Lauren denim jacket via charity shop

Topshop socks

Ju Ju jellies

Adidas backpack from when I was a kid

Mr Freeze ice pop from the local shop :)

THE FASHION FORECAST

One of my big degree projects this year was to design a stand to promote The Manchester College at Birmingham's Clothes Show Live. The project actually began before summer, when I composed a presentation forecasting trends for next year. After looking at next year's film releases - namely Star Trek, with Benedict Cumberbatch as the baddie (hello!) - and also events - after years of little space exploration there are a handful of space missions in 2013 - I went with the theme of sci-fi. My trend was chosen and I was pretty overjoyed to see sci-fi references trickling through in the spring/summer 2013 shows. Score!

It seemed like we were working on the live project forever but on Tuesday I went to the show to check out our finished stand. The entire class contributed elements of the stand, whether it was the initial trend research and moodboards, or 1/5 scale 3D development, and it was interesting to see how the college technicians and my tutor Valerie (she painted all of the galaxies, bless her) interpreted the final ideas. We also ran an activity to increase the length of time Clothes Show visitors spent on the stand; at one point we had about ten people around our activity table wanting to make mini dresses out of recycled material - sadly the activity had to be cancelled by about 2pm as we ran out of scraps!

The best bit of the entire Clothes Show was the Diet Coke Image catwalk, which was for graduates, university and college students. I might be biased but I thought the college segment was by far the most interesting and creative: another good reason to check out colleges for degrees (as well as the low course fees, small class sizes, yada yada.. I said those things way too many times that day). The Manchester College's garments were created by the Fashion Design degree students from polyester made of recycled bottles, sticking with the sci-fi theme, using colours lifted from Pantone's predicted 2013 scheme.

Of course, as well as manning the stand and being totes profesh, there was a bit of silliness with Harry Styles, studiousness with Caryn Franklin, and quite a lot of shopping. I was so proud to see my pals Paris In Cuffs and Bottle Green Vintage at the show, and it was great to chat to some of my favourite indie brands, including The Bohemian Collective. The last time I went to the Clothes Show was about five years ago, and admittedly it was underwhelming.. apart from seeing The Saturdays in the fashion theatre. Ha. This year I was totally overwhelmed by the crowds and the amount of stuff to see.. maybe I am just getting old but there was too much to see in one day!

Did you go to the Clothes Show? I'd love to know what you thought of The Manchester College's stand if you saw it.

(def chose the wrong t-shirt to photograph.. but this is a super cute baby pink & pale yellow ombré Paris In Cuffs tee)

College Credentials

Studying a fashion-based degree is a constant source of style inspiration. From the work and research I carry out, yes, but also from what the other students on my course are wearing. However many fashion magazines and websites I absorb, the real muses are those that dress with panache on a day-to-day basis.

Model behaviour here from Rudy, who is wearing a vintage fur, pale denim, and printed aztec leggings with low-top Converse, which is a micro-trend in our campus.

Paris looks super-sweet in a Topshop puffball skirt, but prevents toothache with the addition of heeled Dr Martens and a leather bomber.

Gabriella mixes her leopard prints with leggings and Converse, grounding the look with a simple, yet effective top half.

Friday Moodboards

Woohoo, it's Friday! How has everyone's week been? I've been busy busy, and as mentioned in my previous post, we've finally started doing some proper work at uni. We did Photoshop moodboards today, so rather than writing a proper post (it's far too hot to think properly, and besides.. it's Friday, gotta get down) I thought I'd share my two with you. I realise they're very rookie Photoshop user but.. well, that's what I am.

I'm really sorry but I don't have image credits for the first board, as my tutor sourced them all. All the images from the second board are from praytoprada.tumblr.com and style.com.

I hope you all have a great weekend in the sunshine!

Back To School

Today was my first day of uni! Or rather, it should have been, but my university seems to have mixed things up a little, and I now start properly on the 19th. I got to meet my fellow students though, and they're all really nice and interesting people, which will obviously make going to lectures a lot more fun. One student had even moved from Japan to take the course.

Did I mention I adopted a kitten a few weeks ago? His name is Henning. He really likes the gold Michael Kors bag my mum got me to take to uni.

So that this post is more than a Gratuitous Picture Of A Cute Cat, here's some pictures of the new display in Kurt Geiger, Spinningfields, which I visited before class.

Kurt Geiger stores are always a visual feast, and this one is no exception. It looks especially cool with the new "Everything but the Dress" line; I love the colourful faux fur snoods, and also the golden bubble-wrap packages the purses come in. This display has a great presence, and serves as both a window- and in-store display. KG always manage to create impressive visual impact using shoes, which is no mean feat.

My copy of Retail Focus arrived this morning, so I'm off for a brew and to read it cover-to-cover!