Completely in love

I'm so in love with maxi-midi skirts and dresses. I love the idea that you can accessorise them with anything and they still look formal and classy. I recently bought a plain black midi dress and a gold glitter midi skirt and I can't wait to wear them both. I wore the gold glitter midi skirt to a New Years Eve party as a touch of glitter is compulsory for a NYE outfit.

Designers including Louis Vuitton, Celine and Prada featured midi skirts on their 2012 catwalks, perfect for spring and winter. The trend was originally popularised in the 1970's, and as always fashion repeats itself so again the 'tea length skirts' have made their comeback.

With a cut below the knee, these midi's are so versatile and flattering. What's not to love about them? They're perfect for day to night wear and come in all different styles and patterns. Personally I prefer the bodycon style midi's that flatter curves and are classy with 'more left to the imagination'. Although I've said midi's are very formal they can also be toughened up and dressed down with simple accessories; try a leather jacket, or converses to start. I basically live in my leather jacket and converse so this will no doubt be the route I'll be taking over the winter and spring. I'd also team my midi dress with a pair of boots to go shopping or be casual, and in the winter months a beanie would fit right in.

Midi dresses and skirts do not have to be plain, many designers mix it up with patterns and vibrant colours. My favourites are Topshop; they also do patterns that are 'interesting' and not at all plain. Perfect if you want to stand out in the crowd. This dramatic pattern certainly ticks all the boxes for me! 

The only disadvantage I'd say about midi's is the clear speeding restrictions it has. If you're planning on being late, avoid the midi. Also, if many flights of stairs are involved, avoid altogether. The bodycon style doesn't exactly let you walk fast with ease.

Other than this I'm in complete awe of the creation and cannot wait to buy more, and become sophisticated!!

Tim Walker: Story Teller at Somerset House

In October I travelled down to London to visit a friend, as she's currently studying Fashion Promotion; which  I combined with going to various exhibitions, including the Tim Walker Story Teller exhibition at Somerset House. 

Walkers extravagant scenes have appeared in Vogue multiple times, he has appeared in several exhibitions and has many of his own books, he is renowned for his fairytale inspired, over the top shoots, often playing with scale to make the model and the props disproportionally sized. Walker is unsatisfied with the easy appeal of a beautiful girl in a beautiful dress, and incorporates fairytale aspects with elaborate narratives. He creates a surreal photographic world where high-fashion meets surreal fantasy, one that we all want to venture to.

The exhibition captures the audience from the minute they walk through the door. Transforming the area in to a maze like space with the anticipation of what will be around the corner luring you through. Each space filled with a selection of his photographs and his oversized props, this use of the large props made you feel like you were in "Wonderland" like Alice. Alike to his images, the atmosphere was fun and childlike yet slightly eerie and subverted. One of the things I really enjoyed about the exhibition were the quotes from Walker that were transferred on to the walls, they gave an insight in to his intentions and his processes behind photography and I found his way of describing this really inspiring. The wall text, which often twists along the wall or literally round a corner, is a narrative of its own, clearly presenting a picture of Walker as an artist of enchanted tales.

The photographs in the exhibition were a mixture of fashion editorials and celebrity portraits, this shows his renowned status with the likes of Tilda Swinton, Alexander McQueen, and Vivienne Westwood letting him capture them. I really liked the creativity used in the fashion editorials, I found them fascinating and unlike some editorials for magazines they could stand alone and still be interesting and relevant in the photographic world. I also loved how the photographs evoked such a strong sense of atmosphere and emotion, combining fairytale like scenes with a creepy twist, this was noted by Walker in one of the quotes on the wall, that explained he feels fairy tales are often scary and haunting yet its when we turn in to adults we remember them as being sweet and innocent. 

Tim Walker's creations mesmerized me to the extent that I went home and admired the pictures again, paying close attention to the oversized props and how the model used them. My favourite has to be the giant doll; I give gratitude to the model because in honesty the doll scared me quite a lot!! The thought of a childhood toy being bigger than you still give me the chills. I really liked the Lily Donaldson and the Spitfire shot because I admired the vintage style. Most of Walker's shoots are minimalistic, this means that the audience has their full attention on the centre prop. 

Karlie Kloss and broken Humpty Dumpty, fashion by Gaultier Paris, 

Rye, East Sussex, 2010

Lily Donaldson and Blue Spitfire, Glemham Hall, Suffolk, 2009

Giant doll kicks Lindsey Wixson, Eglingham Hall,
Northumberland, 2011

Kinga Rajzak in flying saucer with members of the West Percy Hunt, Eglingham Hall, Northumberland, 2009

During my trip to London, my friend asked me to assist on a photo shoot for a student magazine. We would be capturing the look book for 3 photo shoots that would be in the magazine, consisting of 10 looks for each photo shoot.

Throughout the day I gained great experience from working within a photographic studio, working with a model, and professional equipment. My role for the day was to help organise the clothes, my opinion was also welcomed in picking the outfits, and I helped with the model. I really enjoyed this experience as it gave me an insight in to what it would be like working in this environment, and how people more experienced than myself dealt with different scenarios. 

Here are some behind the scenes photographs that I took:

 The array of clothes that the girls could choose from amazed me; they went out and found each piece, either borrowing from brothers and boyfriends, or buying from charity shops.

 Often some 'tweaks' were needed to tailor the clothes to the best fit of the model. Luckily the clothes fitted the model greatly most of the time.

Seeing the professional equipment used gave me an insight into the industry.

And here are a selection of the final look book images captured:

 These 'looks' were the formal winter selection. I particularly liked these looks because they incorporated layers, an essential for winter, and used formal attire that were interesting because of patterns and colours.

 These 'looks' show the more 'casual' side to the photo shoot. The idea was to capture looks for a skate-park. The colours used are vivid but have the 'grungy' feel to them. I believe that skaters often have a diverse sense of style but always combine it with comfortable and flexible items. 

 I like these looks because I think the pop of mustard colour creates Mustard is often a colour that makes a come back in the colder months, this may be because the leaves take on this colour change, but mustard is such an easy colour to style and leaves an impact itself.

Overall I enjoyed my experience at the magazine photo shoot, it gave me an understanding of the hard work that goes into creating just the looks, and how lengthy the process is. However, these disadvantages never put me off the fashion world, it made me more in love with it. I liked the fact that the other girls listened to my  opinions on clothes and styles, which made me feel slightly involved with the final process. The photo shoot made me realise that everyone has to start at the bottom with minor roles and understanding to work up to a higher role. I'm looking forward to seeing the final magazine with the various photo shoots and looks that I helped develop.