Arga Arga Bridal Fashion Show

Hello everyone! 

I'm baacck after too long a time really! It's just the last uni shoes are keeping me very busy- I'm working 10am till 8pm every day at the moment :p

But today I bring you some pictures of the bridal fashion show I helped dress on a couple of weeks ago.

The company I was getting experience with was called 'Arga Arga Bridal' (they have a website so definitely give them a Google!)- I met the designers at Brides the show last year and amazingly they kept me in mind and got in contact with me to help out at one of their line launch bridal fashion shows!

It was very exciting as there were hair and makeup people behind the scenes too and the dresses are so beautiful (why they caught my eye at Brides the show!!!). They are different to the traditional white wedding dress as the cuts are often so interesting and Arga Arga are known for incorporating beautiful hand worked embroidery into their dresses also.

Now enough of my waffle here are a couple of shots from the day :) :

It was so great to get the experience I'm very grateful and will definitely be keeping in contact with the designers- hopefully they will have more events I can help out at In  the future!

My next post will be about the dress I have just finished for my recent uni show :)

Speak to you all again soon and I hope you are well,

Bye xxxXxxx

Sorry for the busyness!

Hello everyone,

Just a quick message from me to say new posts will be coming soon! I haven't forgotten just quite a lot is going on at uni at the moment with shows and things but I will find time to squeeze in some blogging as I have lots to tell you all about!

Hope you are all well and speak to you soon!

Bye :)

Half scale progress :)

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well- time has really been flying and it's been quite while since I last posted. I have been working in my half scale :p which is now almost done (which Is a very good thing as my next show I am working on started today at uni so now I've got to get in with that!)

Here are the latest pictures:

It's just the buttons and buttonholes down the front of the jacket left really :)

I'm quite proud of it though at times when you are hand sewing a hem for hours it can get a bit tedious :p

I will return soon with a post about my upcoming uni show work and also about a wedding fair catwalk I am working on on Sunday :D I'm very excited!

Speak to you all soon, 

Bye xoxoxo

New Millinery Makes!

Hello all!

I hope you are all well and are enjoying the sun which is just starting to some out! :p

The week just gone was 'Symposium week' at my university (I posted about symposium last year, but for those who don't know it's kind of like a mini festival that happens on campus where there are workshops for you to sign up to and shows to watch!  So basically a week of fun and excitement exploring new things really :)

I actually hosted my own workshop this year teaching people the basics of knitting which was very enjoyable- everyone picked it up pretty quickly as well too which was impressive! They seemed to enjoy my class so I was happy :p I will definitely be trying to think of what workshop I can host next year now after the fun I had hosting my own!

Haha but now- among many one workshop I did was making theatrical (basically showgirl) headresss!!! The lady who taught the class was the one who teaches the week of millinery as part of my course- she is very talented and very lovely so it was nice to be taught by her again.

We learnt how to have the wire headband and base and then how to build up all the decoration on top. It was cool as everyone's came out so different.  Here is my creation....

Hehe I am quite proud of it. It is very fun to wear I must say! But I was also super happy to learn the skills of making the wire headband shape as I had caught the millinery bug again and being able to make my own wire headband base allowed me to experiment and come up with my own new fascinator design.....

I made it as a gift for the birthday of someone special to me's sister that is coming up soon :)

I quite like the design- it is kind of flower and origami like- it was fun to see what I could create by just folding and pleating and sewing the sinamay in different ways. And then I added the feathers and metal flat back charms to decorate :)

Hehe that's way out it for this fascinator and feather filled post :p

Talk to you all again soon! 

Byeee and thank you for visiting :) xxxx

An interesting find...

Hello,

First up Happy (belated) Easter to everyone! I hope you had a fabulous time :)

I am currently in the Isle of Wight for my Easter holidays and am having a good time

Yesterday me and my family went into ryde and had a walk down the high street. There is a shop there my family always go in called the 'Fantastic Store' it is basically a comic book and action figure store which covers both retro and new items. I am not to into that kind of stuff if I'm honest but I usually have a look around whilst I'm waiting for my parents to finish as on the odd occasion I do find something cool :p yesterday happened to be one of those days!

I was looking at the piles of magazines on the floor and came across a stack of old (about 1980s) 'military modelling' magazines, I don't really know why but I thought ill flick through one of those- just to see what it's like I suppose and then I saw that in each is sure was articles on, and sketches of, some military uniforrms! Talked about in really good detail (to help the diehard modellers I suppose)- so absoloutely fascinating for me from a costume perspective.  There was even the odd scaled down historical jacket pattern.

Look:

At only £1 each I picked up three of them :p hehe I never know what show ill be making for next but if it is set in world war 2 and there are some paratroopers taht need costuming I will know where to turn to start my research! ;p

If you can get your hands on any copies the costume bit is well worth a read if you are interested in such things as I am :)

See you all soon, 

Bye!  Xxx

Half scale update

Hi everyone,

As I mentioned I am not on show anymore so that means I am back on my half scale project :) I mentioned this before but just in case you don't remember this is the project where we choose a historical dress from Janet Arnolds Patterns of fashion and make it up in half scale.

I chose this victorian day dress- which I was lucky enough to go and view at the v and a archive yesterday!! (Clothworkers centre- you have to book an appointment :):

(Image from v and a website)

Here is what I have of my half scale so far:

It is taking a long time due to all the hand sewing and how much decoration there is involved but I am proud of how it's coming along :) I working on the overskirt now before I finish off the bodice so I should have some of that to show you soon! 

Hope you are all well :)

Bye, ill be back soon! xxx

First Uni show!

Hi everyone :)

My oh my it has been too long since I posted! But that's what happens when you are on shows and are working 9am till 11pm each day and then have only 3 days to finish off all your written work :p But that is all done now so I am here to report back! :D

First I should tell you all what the show I was working on actually was- it was a play called 'The Low Road' written by Bruce Norris. I thought it was a very interesting play (we had to read it and watch the run through so we could see where actors would have quick changes- which we as dressers are in charge of).

 It's main theme is economics- which makes it sound a bit boring unless you are into economics but it actually very different and has a really good story to it. It is mainly set in the late 18th century and follows the life of an arrogant and corrupt business man who was raised by a brothel owner, it then jumps forward to the present day in the middle to see one of his ancestors (anti equally slimy businessman) at an economics conference and finally ends with Some Alien bees coming down at the end. Yes you did read that right- alien bees!

I do not blame you if all that makes no sense at all it is one of those things that you need to really read to understand and I'm sure then you would enjoy the story and really get into it and start analysing it like I did! It doesn't sound like it but it is actually a comedy and so when you properly read it it actually gives you the laugh as well :p

But anyway- now onto my make. I made the coat designed for the main character, Jim Trumpett, to wear once he had grown up and travelled to market and bought all his new fancy goods- my coat which was meant to be one of his purchases.

AND HERE IT IS:

The pleats are striped- a cool detail the designer wanted :) There were stripes included somewhere on all the costumes by the designer to signify how everyone is kind of connected in the small american tows where the play was set- and I suppose connected to ancestors too for when they jump to the future in once scene. I really like design features that are meant to signify things like the stripes in this play- as it's almost like I am building a code or a secret message into what I am making that can only be accessed by people analysing and imagining and really getting Into the show :)

I was really proud of how it came out :) It fit really well and I really liked the finished aesthetic- it is probably one of my favourite things I've ever made! And it was even more fabulous taht it got be in a show- on a stage- in stratford london- in front of an audience- which on two of the nights contained my family and friends!!!! :D

Here is a sneaky shot of it I took from backstage inbetween carrying out my quick changes:

But here is a much better shot of it took by the official college photographer during dress parade :p:

Haha now- did you rebel I mentioned alien bees? One of my jobs was also to help with making thier costumes. We started with some yellow fisherman suits and after some sampling and a lots of hand sewing and analysing the designers sketch here is what the alien bees jacket looked like...

Notice the stripes..? ;)

And here are the trousers- mid having thier 'pollen pockets' sewn on :p:

I really wish I had a picture of the bees full dressed up as the lyrics and the see cool helmets and backpacks with wings on that scenics made! And they had yellow marigold gloves with really long pointed black fake nails on and utility belts! Haha and the microphones they had made them sound all buzzy.  I had to quick change alien bee 1 (there were 2) which was quite a challenge as you can imagine due to all the crazy parts there is to put on- but it was fun and we managed it!

Hehehe hopefully I have managed to explain some of the craziness of shows in an understandable way!? :p 

Well done to everyone involved as I think it was really good show and everyone really made me feel part of the team which was lovely!

I wonder what adventures and randomness my next show holds for me...? :o)

I hope you are all well and I will speak to you again soon!

Bye xxx

Vodafone London Fashion Weekend!

Hi everyone! 

I hope you are all doing fabulously :) 

As I mentioned, the Saturday just gone, I went to London Vodafone Fashion Weekend. For anyone not sure of what that is exactly ill give a quick explanation :) London Fashion week happens 2 times a year but the shows at london fashion week are open to trade/by invite only. London vodafone fashion weekend happens in the weekend after london fashion week at Somerset house and is an event which shows some different catwalk shows and has pop up shops and is an event anyone can buy tickets for and join in the fun! :)

Also each VLFW a designer is asked to design a tote bag- which you get one of filled with goodies if you come to the event. Last time I posted when I went in September Lulu Guinness designed the tote bag, but this time around it was Pringle of Scotland:

I really like the cable knit design- it is quite a simple design- but very stylish I think. Very different to last year's so keeps things interesting! :p

This time me and my mum went to one catwalk as we found we preffered the designer catwalks to the trend ones.

The show we got to see was Halston Heritage. This was a brand/designer I was not overly familiar with so it was good to learn more.

Here are some shots of the outfits in the show:

My favourite pice of the whole catwalk was the pale green shirt dress with teaches over shirt that ca  be seen at the front of this picture- looks fairly simple at first but there is some interesting pattern cutting and construction going on there!  I would also definitely wear it in the summer! 

I love getting a shot of when all the models are walking down the runway- always looks cool and dramatic! :p

Overall I preffered last year's designer catwalk- Nicholas Oakwell Couture as the designs were so intricate and beautifully worked and some really interesting cuts. But as I said it was still good to see a different designers work and there were a couple of pieces I really liked.

I can't wait to see what VLFW offers this September when it rolls back around! :p

Speak to you all again soon with news on my first ever college show!

Bye xXxX

Women Fashion power exhibition!

Hi,

I hope you are all doing fabulously :) 

A week or so ago me and my friend Grace from college went to see the Women, Fashion, Power exhibition at the Design Museum in London. It was a really cool exhibition- looking a the the clothing of some very influential women in the world throughout history and now in the modern day. And there were lo just examples of interesting womenwearclothing and shoes too.

From visiting I did manage to tick one thing off my bucket list!!- to see a garment worn by Lady Gaga with my own eyes in person!! Look, I saw this black plastic bag dress worn by Miss Gaga herself!:

One of my other favourite pieces was this strappy black bolero type piece with these amazing metallic/almost holographic plastic pieces protruding from the sleeves:

Isn't it really intriguing? I mean you would definitely make an entrance in that!

And next up in my photo highlights tour- shoes! Here were my two favourite pairs. Wearing with attitude is a must :p they are pretty fierce. But what do you expect from an exhibition entitled women  fashion power...

And lastly these brilliant hats- by the one and only Phillip Tracey of course :) The one comes across as like transforming you into a mystical bird but I might have to go with the one in the middle if I could only have one as that looks soo warm and it is still very cold! :p

I would recommend a visit if you are near the design museum. There is tons more cool items to see that I couldn't possibly cover them all in this post :p

see you all again soon- with news of my show makes for college!  Yes I am now on my first show- which is why I have been so busy these last few weeks.  And I will also be bringing photos and news from Vodafone Fashion Weekend at Somerset House in london (as I visited in September) as I am heading there on Saturday!  :D

Bye till then! Xxxxx

Fascinator tutorial- Final part 3!

Hello everyone,

Once again sorry for the long delay between the parts of this tutorial! But here is the final part at last :)

So lets pick up where we left off then shall we? The last step covered was making up your lining, so now we can move on to sewing that inside your fascinator!

You want the right side fabric out of course- then place your lining inside your fascinator, making sure you line up the seams (of the darts) of the outer fabric of your hat and your lining- for a really neat and professional finish. Then pin up your seam allowance of your lining so you get a clean edge all the way around and slip stitch (invisibly) your lining in place all the way around the edge of your fascinator.

Hopefully that was easy to follow but here are some pictures as usual to help :):

Here you can see I have slipstitched almost all the way round and can see how the lining sits nice and smoothly inside :)

 

Here is a close up so you can see how the seam allowances tuck inside the fascinator and you get a nice clean edge:

 

And as it was really hard to try and photograph the stages of slip stitch for those who don't know I found the following tutorial which shows how to work invisible slipstitch really clearly :):

http://www.instructables.com/id/Hand-Sewing-Basic-Slip-Stitch-Blind-Stitch/

 

Then the final part of your fascinator- yes you are almost done, keep going! :) Is to add a way to fasten it to your head/hair.

 

There are many ways this can be done- by sewing in a comb (you can get these on eBay etc..), or a length on elastic (either end attached to either side of the fascinator)- the elastic should be long enough to securely hold the hat in place and stretch underneath your hair running against the back nape of your neck.

 

But one more method is to sew hair loops onto your fascinator, which you can then put hair pins through and into your hair to hold your hat down instead :)

 

This is really simple and just involves making a small length of chain stitch and sewing this into a loop. Repeat this in a few places around the brim of your fascinator (I just worked a loop either side :)

 

Here is a tutorial which explains chain/loop stitch well (the beeswax is optional though :): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n6hhZNinSM

 

And now you can be super proud of yourself as your fascinator is all done!!!

 

Get out to a fancy party/event and show of your creation right away! :-P

 

Well done! :)

 

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and if you have followed it I hope you like your finished fascinator!

 

Again if you have any questions or don't quite get any sections don't hesitate to leave a comment in the box below and  I will reply and try to be as helpful as possible xxx

 

I hope you are all well and thank you for sticking with me despite the long delays recently :P

 

Speak again soon,

 

Bye XxXxXxXxX