Hello!
So fashion related posts from yours truely have been a little thin on the ground recently as I have been so busy with work and just so exhausted that I really haven't got round to blogging. I've been thinking about the blog and I think i'm gonna change the name as I rarely post anything fashion related, and i'm not dedicated enough to post pictures of myself in outfits as on a normal working day i'm just in jeans and a tshirt as I need to be comfy for my job! So really by calling the blog 'The Ramblings of a Trainee Fashion Journalist' is kind of giving off the assumption that the blog is all about fashion, or at least fashion journalism, which it really isn't! It seems to be mainly just me rambling (as i am now) about my pretty boring life!
I think the issue is that although I love fashion and have been studying it for the past two years (prior to fash journalism i studied design) i find it really hard to stay on top of everything that is going on in the industry, and would never be able to keep up to date as, say, someone like Susie Bubble, who has the most fantastic fashion knowledge and the dedication to her readers.
I love the IDEA of fashion, I love clothes and I love the image one can create by using them. I think that my disinterest in keeping up with trends and designers is really going be a problem in my chosen career, as I would much rather look at how people on the street dress than see how designers dress their models, in clothes I couldn't possibly afford. I don't know if that sounds totally ignorant, but I find it hard to be a dedicated follower of any one designer when I couldn't even begin to afford their pieces (expecially not on £6 an hour anyway!) Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Luella Bartley and would happily sell all my wardrobe for her S/S 08 collection (still my favourite) and all her collections since then, but I find it
hard to keep track of everything else that is happening in the fashion bubble, and even if i did, I think it would feel like a chore if anything!
I think maybe exposing oneself to fashion is the best way to become more involved and excited by it, how it evolves and what the seasons bring. I think the problem is that since leaving London I have had little involvment with the industry, and went straight from being at LCF, working with fashion obsessives and learning from stylists, designers and photographers, and really emersing myself in that creative bubble, to living in Southampton, toning my style of dressing down a bit to be more student-y and finding myself lacking in the time or the energy to keep up to date with the lastest news and goings-on in the industry.
This is not an excuse - I know that the power of the internet means that you can live in the Amazon and feel as though you are in any given fashion capital, but when you take yourself out of that sphere and meet other people, and concentrate on other things, (until this term I was studying Journalism, not Fashion Journalism, and it couldn't have been more dull, or exausting) I think it makes the whole thing more difficult.
Saying all of this, I don't believe that you need to know everything about each designer, or every trend on the catwalk, to call yourself a 'fashion follower', as, at the end of the day, fashion is constantly evolving and changing, and while trends come and go and designers weave in and out of the public eye, the idea of fashion and the wealth of inspiration it can create will never change, and this makes me feel a little bit better about slacking off!
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Wednesday 17 June 2009
Juicer extraordinaire turned designer
Sooo apologies for the lack of posting recently but I had a lovely weekend at my sisters with all the family over, a big BBQ and some lovely long walks in the woods :) It was great but back to reality!
Just saw on the Guardian website that Philippe Starck, best known for the 80s phenomonon Juicy Salif Alessi juicer, has collaborated with Scottish label Ballantyne to create his first ever collection, which was shown in Florence 2 nights ago.
According to Lizzy Davies of the Guardian, Starck doesn't want you to look at his clothing as 'Fashion', but as something beyond it.
"The public will take maybe three years to understand the concept. It's not fashion. We won't be very big in the newspapers. The clothes are non-photogenic. But intelligent people will know to discover us."
Starck aims to show how sustainable, contemporary clothing can be wearable, but says that he is not "idiotic enough to do fashion".
Somehow I feel that this isn't enough to convince the fashion elite that this is anything different from, say, Hussein chalayan , or Martin Margiela, who produce revolutionary designs which could be classed as pieces of art more than fashion garments.
I can't find any pics of the collection yet, other than the small one on the Guardian website. You can read the article here.
Just saw on the Guardian website that Philippe Starck, best known for the 80s phenomonon Juicy Salif Alessi juicer, has collaborated with Scottish label Ballantyne to create his first ever collection, which was shown in Florence 2 nights ago.
According to Lizzy Davies of the Guardian, Starck doesn't want you to look at his clothing as 'Fashion', but as something beyond it.
"The public will take maybe three years to understand the concept. It's not fashion. We won't be very big in the newspapers. The clothes are non-photogenic. But intelligent people will know to discover us."
Starck aims to show how sustainable, contemporary clothing can be wearable, but says that he is not "idiotic enough to do fashion".
Somehow I feel that this isn't enough to convince the fashion elite that this is anything different from, say, Hussein chalayan , or Martin Margiela, who produce revolutionary designs which could be classed as pieces of art more than fashion garments.
I can't find any pics of the collection yet, other than the small one on the Guardian website. You can read the article here.
Wednesday 10 June 2009
Tweet it
So I've just discovered this fabulous site which lets you find out which celebs have a Twitter account and updates their Tweets as they write them.
I wonder though, is this a sign that the Twitter obsession has gone too far? On the one hand, and speaking as someone who is always up for some celebrity gossip, it is very insightful to see what certain celebs are getting up to in their spare time, for example; through this site, CelebrityTweet I can see that Lance Armstrong is reading the Wall Street Journal at his home in Texas.
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are also two very famous Twitter enthusiasts but have recently threatened to boycott the whole thing because of the level of attention they are getting for it. It has also been alleged that a TV production is under way to document the rise of Twitter , and, not wanting to be involved in this, the couple have said that if this was to go ahead they would no longer use the social networking site.
But did they bring it upon themselves in the first place by openly using Twitter ? And all that business about Kutcher posting pics of Demi in her bikini, which is obviously going to get you more attention, especially from the press!
It is fascinating to have such an insight into the lives of celebrities who normally keep themselves so private, especially when this insight has been consented by the celebrities themselves. However, I do fear that all this media attention celebrity Twitter pages are getting is going to cause celebs to either stop publicising such intimate information (e.g pictures of their other halfs in their swimwear) or to stop using the site altogether.
I personally have a Twitter account ( you can access it through my profile -->) but hardly ever use it, and only have 2 followers! (One is Stephen Fry - I love him, and my sister!) I guess also, the people I really want to know what i' m doing are all on my Facebook page anyway, and the 'What's on your mind' button does exactly the same thing as Twitter just on a smaller scale.
On another less debatable note, I went charity shop shopping today (something I ALWAYS find time for) in Oxford and came across two rather lovely items which I have to show you.
The skirt was £4 and ideally would be great a little smaller so it would sit better on my waist but I think i'm gonna wear it as a dress with leggings as it has a great elasticated back.
The scarf is such a pretty colour, you can't really see it properly in the picture but I have a thing about scarfs and I can add this one to my ever-growing collection! It was only £1, which I thought was pretty good!
I wonder though, is this a sign that the Twitter obsession has gone too far? On the one hand, and speaking as someone who is always up for some celebrity gossip, it is very insightful to see what certain celebs are getting up to in their spare time, for example; through this site, CelebrityTweet I can see that Lance Armstrong is reading the Wall Street Journal at his home in Texas.
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are also two very famous Twitter enthusiasts but have recently threatened to boycott the whole thing because of the level of attention they are getting for it. It has also been alleged that a TV production is under way to document the rise of Twitter , and, not wanting to be involved in this, the couple have said that if this was to go ahead they would no longer use the social networking site.
But did they bring it upon themselves in the first place by openly using Twitter ? And all that business about Kutcher posting pics of Demi in her bikini, which is obviously going to get you more attention, especially from the press!
It is fascinating to have such an insight into the lives of celebrities who normally keep themselves so private, especially when this insight has been consented by the celebrities themselves. However, I do fear that all this media attention celebrity Twitter pages are getting is going to cause celebs to either stop publicising such intimate information (e.g pictures of their other halfs in their swimwear) or to stop using the site altogether.
I personally have a Twitter account ( you can access it through my profile -->) but hardly ever use it, and only have 2 followers! (One is Stephen Fry - I love him, and my sister!) I guess also, the people I really want to know what i' m doing are all on my Facebook page anyway, and the 'What's on your mind' button does exactly the same thing as Twitter just on a smaller scale.
On another less debatable note, I went charity shop shopping today (something I ALWAYS find time for) in Oxford and came across two rather lovely items which I have to show you.
The skirt was £4 and ideally would be great a little smaller so it would sit better on my waist but I think i'm gonna wear it as a dress with leggings as it has a great elasticated back.
The scarf is such a pretty colour, you can't really see it properly in the picture but I have a thing about scarfs and I can add this one to my ever-growing collection! It was only £1, which I thought was pretty good!
Tuesday 9 June 2009
Jean Genie
Sooooo.. I have quite a lot to blog about today, FIRSTLY i'm excited because I scored myself a job finally :) had an interview today (which lasted about 5 mins) and basically i start on the 22nd :) the job is at this Oxford University campus store, which basically sells hoodies and t-shirts with 'Oxford University' on them! pretty cool shop, full of all this old Oxford memorabilia, such as rowing oars and the like. So yeaah, i'll be getting £45 a day and working 4 days a week, until August.
:D
Oh and the best part is I get to wear my own clothes as the dress code is 'casual and comfortable' ! how amazing is that? I hate having to wear a black uniform (like at my two previous jobs) so this is pretty perfect for me, as I am a naturally scruffy person! haha.
On another note, I need your opinion (if there is anyone out there...!!) on these new jeans I bought from Zara today; they're light denim with rips down the front (not as bad as they seem) and would be great for summer, EXCEPT I never wear jeans and live in dresses so it's probably not the wisest way I could have spent £25..but it was kind of a treat for landing myself a job...!
They do look better on, although I had to jump around in the changing room for a good minute to try and get them round my thighs...which probably should have told me something ahaha. I think I was just so happy to finally be able to fit into Zara jeans that I went a bit crazy, plus the fact that the mirrors in there are rather forgiving!
Anyway, moving on, I had a sewing day yesterday to try and alter some of the billion vintage dresses I own which I buy when they are either far too big/long and tell myself I will change them, only to forget all about it.
Well yesterday I decided to make a start on this dress I bought from a little shop down Brick Lane when they were having this amazing £10 deal, where you literally piled whatever you could fit into a bag and got the whole lot for a tenner! One of the items I bought was this particular dress (along with a a huge but beautiful 1940s dress coat, which swamps me) which someone had obviously made for themselves, but it was such a strange, unflattering shape i knew I had to do something with it if I was ever going to wear it.
Here is the finished result, although i'm not happy with the hem as it was an A-line dress and because i've shortened it the bottom now kind of sticks out in a 'space-y' kind of way, which looks a bit shoddy so I may do that again..
Tbh,seeing as I basically guessed how much to take it in by from the sides, it more or less fits me perfectly, but the sewing is so bad in places when the previous owner had made it that i'm scared I might sit down on the bus one day only for the whole thing to burst at the seams! Anyway, I guess at least attempting to alter my existing wardrobe is better than buying more new clothes which I really don't have room for!
Think the mother and I are going to do a car boot sale in a few weeks to try and make some money from all the stuff i've gotten rid of recently which is currently sitting in the garage, instead of the car! (what else are garages for if not to stash away my unwanted clothes..?!)
I normally give away my clothes to charity, and have a huge clear out every few months, but I absolutely love car boot sales so I may have to sneak away from time to time to check out some of the other stalls...you always find the best stuff at places like that!
:D
Oh and the best part is I get to wear my own clothes as the dress code is 'casual and comfortable' ! how amazing is that? I hate having to wear a black uniform (like at my two previous jobs) so this is pretty perfect for me, as I am a naturally scruffy person! haha.
On another note, I need your opinion (if there is anyone out there...!!) on these new jeans I bought from Zara today; they're light denim with rips down the front (not as bad as they seem) and would be great for summer, EXCEPT I never wear jeans and live in dresses so it's probably not the wisest way I could have spent £25..but it was kind of a treat for landing myself a job...!
They do look better on, although I had to jump around in the changing room for a good minute to try and get them round my thighs...which probably should have told me something ahaha. I think I was just so happy to finally be able to fit into Zara jeans that I went a bit crazy, plus the fact that the mirrors in there are rather forgiving!
Anyway, moving on, I had a sewing day yesterday to try and alter some of the billion vintage dresses I own which I buy when they are either far too big/long and tell myself I will change them, only to forget all about it.
Well yesterday I decided to make a start on this dress I bought from a little shop down Brick Lane when they were having this amazing £10 deal, where you literally piled whatever you could fit into a bag and got the whole lot for a tenner! One of the items I bought was this particular dress (along with a a huge but beautiful 1940s dress coat, which swamps me) which someone had obviously made for themselves, but it was such a strange, unflattering shape i knew I had to do something with it if I was ever going to wear it.
Here is the finished result, although i'm not happy with the hem as it was an A-line dress and because i've shortened it the bottom now kind of sticks out in a 'space-y' kind of way, which looks a bit shoddy so I may do that again..
Tbh,seeing as I basically guessed how much to take it in by from the sides, it more or less fits me perfectly, but the sewing is so bad in places when the previous owner had made it that i'm scared I might sit down on the bus one day only for the whole thing to burst at the seams! Anyway, I guess at least attempting to alter my existing wardrobe is better than buying more new clothes which I really don't have room for!
Think the mother and I are going to do a car boot sale in a few weeks to try and make some money from all the stuff i've gotten rid of recently which is currently sitting in the garage, instead of the car! (what else are garages for if not to stash away my unwanted clothes..?!)
I normally give away my clothes to charity, and have a huge clear out every few months, but I absolutely love car boot sales so I may have to sneak away from time to time to check out some of the other stalls...you always find the best stuff at places like that!
Friday 5 June 2009
Corfu Deux
More pics from Corfu!
Ahoy there! Sophie on the pedelo we hired on the last day :)
Some pretty sea!
This made me smile! We never went in there though :(
The most amazing coffee I had all holiday..the picture doesn't do it justice!
Even in Greece my mother still drinks tea..and look how tanned she is! Needless to say I'm still pasty..
Those are the best ones which really sum up the holiday...I didn't really take that many as I was having too much fun to whip out my camera ! I did have a lovely bikini from the Kelly Brook range at New Look but the dye started to run on the second day and dyed half my back blue! Not exactly the holiday glow I was going for! Anyway, if you guys are interested I have a link to it here.
I'm also in love with the blue dress I was wearing in the mirror pic! I bought it from a tiny little shop next to our apartment, and it only cost me 12 Euros!
Unfortunately that same night I managed to get beer spilled down it (someone else's, not mine!) and it also stinks of smoke so i need to get it dry-cleaned before I can venture out in it again without smelling like a pub garden!
On another note (I said this was gonna be a long post...) I'm really dissapointed today as the work experience placement I had lined up for next week has fallen through as the magazine in question haven't replied to my phone calls or emails to confirm that it's all going ahead. I was supposed to start on Monday but haven't heard anything since last week, so I guess it's not happening! Bit gutted but nevermind eh?
I also handed out loads of CVs today around Oxford in the hope of finding a part time job for the summer. Managed to give all the ones in that I printed out so fingers crossed I might get some interviews!
Ahoy there! Sophie on the pedelo we hired on the last day :)
Some pretty sea!
This made me smile! We never went in there though :(
The most amazing coffee I had all holiday..the picture doesn't do it justice!
Even in Greece my mother still drinks tea..and look how tanned she is! Needless to say I'm still pasty..
Those are the best ones which really sum up the holiday...I didn't really take that many as I was having too much fun to whip out my camera ! I did have a lovely bikini from the Kelly Brook range at New Look but the dye started to run on the second day and dyed half my back blue! Not exactly the holiday glow I was going for! Anyway, if you guys are interested I have a link to it here.
I'm also in love with the blue dress I was wearing in the mirror pic! I bought it from a tiny little shop next to our apartment, and it only cost me 12 Euros!
Unfortunately that same night I managed to get beer spilled down it (someone else's, not mine!) and it also stinks of smoke so i need to get it dry-cleaned before I can venture out in it again without smelling like a pub garden!
On another note (I said this was gonna be a long post...) I'm really dissapointed today as the work experience placement I had lined up for next week has fallen through as the magazine in question haven't replied to my phone calls or emails to confirm that it's all going ahead. I was supposed to start on Monday but haven't heard anything since last week, so I guess it's not happening! Bit gutted but nevermind eh?
I also handed out loads of CVs today around Oxford in the hope of finding a part time job for the summer. Managed to give all the ones in that I printed out so fingers crossed I might get some interviews!
Corfu Baby!
Yassou!
Sorry for the massive gap between posts, if you hadn't guessed already i've been in Corfu for a week with le mother and the fabulous Sophia :) Got back a couple days ago but haven't had time to post until now, but this is gonna be a super long post to make up for it!
It was lovely to get away after having such a hectic year at uni, but i've realised that i despise airports now that i am no longer of the age where flying is exciting!
Two early morning flights in one week do not a happy Bee make. Eugh. Had to sleep for two days to shake off the constant state of tiredness my body was in!
But anyway, enough of that, here are some pics from le vacance;
The entrance to our apartment complex
Moi et Sophie on the messy night out we had in Sidari. True toilet class.
Corfu Town - couldn't resist taking a pic of these birdies on a window ledge in the town centre, so pretty!
I was VERY excited to have some alcohol
So was Sophie!
The lovely resort
boats!
...More pics coming up :)
Sorry for the massive gap between posts, if you hadn't guessed already i've been in Corfu for a week with le mother and the fabulous Sophia :) Got back a couple days ago but haven't had time to post until now, but this is gonna be a super long post to make up for it!
It was lovely to get away after having such a hectic year at uni, but i've realised that i despise airports now that i am no longer of the age where flying is exciting!
Two early morning flights in one week do not a happy Bee make. Eugh. Had to sleep for two days to shake off the constant state of tiredness my body was in!
But anyway, enough of that, here are some pics from le vacance;
The entrance to our apartment complex
Moi et Sophie on the messy night out we had in Sidari. True toilet class.
Corfu Town - couldn't resist taking a pic of these birdies on a window ledge in the town centre, so pretty!
I was VERY excited to have some alcohol
So was Sophie!
The lovely resort
boats!
...More pics coming up :)
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