COMPLETE CHANGE!!!

Well what a week!!!!

For some reason technology and I do not get on. I find it frustrating and slow.

I apologise for taking so long to write this but it is because I wanted to include pictures in this week’s blog and I could not get my NEW laptop to recognise my phone.  Anyway after 5 hours it’s working…..HOORAY!!!!

My blogs will be posted every Thursday and Monday from now on.  If there not, you know I have had a problem with the LAPTOP…LOL.

After week 2 at college we were each given a top which had been purchased from a charity shop to customize. Now……my friends always used to laugh at me when we went out as I was always sticking things to shoes, handbags, dresses, in fact if it had room on it I would stick something to it.

This was all purely for fun though, but getting a top in class is serious. When I do something I always want to do it to the best of my ability and I am terrible for putting pressure on myself and this case it was no exception……..OMG. What am I going to do?

You can see before and after shots just below. I started off wanting to do something with this season colours….pastels….hhmmmmmm. So I thought about something to do with Ice-cream, Cakes etc. But when I got to the superb ‘ABAKHAN’ in Manchester on ‘Oldham RD’ (it’s amazing) I changed my mind completely and went with ‘AFRICAN QUEEN’.

Very difficult as I am not a seamstress…you would not want me to turn up your trousers believe me. My sewing is like a three year olds.

I changed the colour to dark brown through a dye in the washing machine whilst I went to Body Combat. Came home and worked on it till 3 in the morning. I was knackered and still asking myself if it was good enough.

I made it halter neck with Feathers from PRIMARK…in the sale…how cheap!!!! Bought Earrings and used BIG CUFF bangles of my own to finish the look. Cut out the back. Which I am afraid you can’t see from the back as the dummy is too skinny and placed a chain with leather.

This idea came to me because of Leather, Cuffs, and Tribal still being very much on the shelves in the shops and so I wanted to do a slightly different spin on this.

I hope you like…although neither of us would wear out. But Fashion is all about the’ Theatre’ and that is what I wanted to create. We now have shoes to customise…more pressure.

3^rd week and it was the shoot. Very Long day and shots I have not seen properly yet so will tell you all in around 48 hours.

Thanks for reading and looking forward to showing you the pictures from the 1920s shoot.

Lots of Love Sally XXXXX

5 hours around the shops in Manchester!!

Loving my time at ‘London College of Style’ sooo interesting what goes on with in the Fashion world.

My first week I have spent a lot of time scurrying around the shops and stalls in Manchester and trawling the net. I have my very first shoot at College on putting together a 1920’s outfit for the 28th of Jan.

The Brief for this is as follows....the clothing has not to be costume and it is to be brought up to date with today’s fashion and look like it could be used in a magazine today. Gosh!.........Will I be able to do this!! I will only know once the shoot is over.

I thought my first idea was good.  Picture this. Pinstripe Suit, hair slicked back with lace covering the eyes with the model smoking. I thought this brought in the element of how the women were having more say and CoCo Channel brought in trousers for the women back in the 1920’s. Women had started smoking and having a say in life. I was well chuffed with myself, until!!!!!!!

OMG...No trouser suits on the high street fitting this description at all.......ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!! 5 hours in Manchester and NOTHING!

Although, while sifting through the magazines I came across one with no name attached so no idea where it had come from. This is proving to be difficult so back to the drawing board.

Afflecks Palace however, had an amazing new Jewellery Designer on the top floor called ‘Just Joolz’ and she is a genius. Found a brilliant necklace that could be changed into a head dress but didn’t know what clothes my model was wearing yet so just took her number. My feet, body and brain at this point are in a mush. What am I going to do?

I happened to visit a friends shop after Step Aerobics on Tuesday morning, bearing in mind college is the next day, (check it out www.preciousatwhalley.co.uk) and there in the window was a Fabulous KIMONO. That’s It!!

Orientalism started in the 1920’s by a designer called Paul Poiret. The pattern looks like Art Deco taken from the buildings of that era. A sigh of relief as I was at college the next day and had only got new versions of Flapper dresses from the net and both had not arrived as yet (I also thought this was a little obvious). I am probably teaching you how to suck eggs but just in case you didn’t know Flapper dresses were the dresses with Fringing that they wore at night dancing the Charleston.

Off to college for my second day with my Kimono...oh and one of the dresses was at the neighbours when I got home.

How did I get on this week?
xxxxxxx

FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL.... NERVOUS.

So my first day at ‘London College of Style’ was fab…I Loved It. Slightly worried with the amount of work but it is only for 12 weeks.

We go back to the day when women were coming out of their shells. Women were working, voting, smoking and even starting to be educated like the men.

After the Great War Fashion changed for women and how they were thought of dramatically. The huge designers of that time were Paul Poiret, Jean Patou and the well-known CoCo Channel. Ooohh an interesting fact is that CoCo Channel No 5 was launched in 1921. And this is when our all time favourite ‘Little Black Dress’ was launched.

Before the 1920’s women were squeezed into very tight corsets, huge bustles, heavy materials. Looked great, but would you have wanted to be so uncomfortable everyday? Me….no thanks.

Having said that I would not have enjoyed the 1920’s in the way of Fashion because it swayed itself to small hips and small busts the ‘Garconne’ look, French for Boyish. Out the window for me then….I would have been joining those who had to tape there chests down. The first time women started to wear trousers as well. Without trousers I would be completely stuck my wardrobe is full of them.

This look with a modern day twist is going to be one of the huge looks for Spring Summer 2012 and also Autumn Winter with the release of ‘The Greta Gatsby’ on the way.

It doesn’t have to be solely 1920’s you can mix and match with the other looks that are about as well.

Sooo Interesting.

Second day today. I will hopefully have an update of today by the weekend.

xxxxxxx

OMG..Back To School..WTF xx

OMG…well,Wednesday the 11th January, I headed back into the class room, no uniform as I burnt that years ago. This is somewhere I have not been in years.

Both nervous and excited and not totally prepared, (as I had only found out I was doing the course the day before)….arrrgghhh!!!

I checked my times and left in plenty of time to enter the class room at 9am….or so I thought.

To my utter shock the ‘stupid’ SAT NAV took me through the back roads and with the rush hour of London as well, I was a whopping 45 mins late….Horror!!!!

As you know I have a massive passion for Fashion…sorry that was cheesy. I basically want to know MORE.

Did you know how it all began? Who started what, when and where? No, neither did I, but I am about to find it all out at www.londoncollegeofstyle.com

Perhaps not going right back to the start, but far enough, back to the 1920’s, especially when this is to be a big look for the seasons ahead. This is when things really did start to change dramatically for woman and there attire.

I hope to take you on my new exciting journey, but firstly though I have sooooo much homework I had better get on with it.

Sally Jacks xxxxxx