CHRISTMAS LIST 001

1. Bunny Bath Soap Rope - Urban Outfitters or Ebay

2. Fashion Book - Urban Outfitters or Amazon 

3. Pug Toiletry Bag - Urban Outfitters or Fleurtations

4. Cosmetics Case - Urban Outfitters

5. Floral Socks - Strathcona Stockings

6. Watch - Urban Outfitters

7. Emma Cook Print Diary - Topshop 

So i thought i'd make a little post to show off some gift ideas this christmas. Being ill i didn't really have much to do with my day. As well as linking to the website if it's possible i've linked to an alternative cheaper place to get them, y'know if you can get it cheaper why not eh? 

After realising there was a 20% off sale in Urban Outfitters last night i was straight on it! They have so much to choose from, i was literally on their website for like 3 hours! I found this cute soap on a rope, and i know soap is just a typical thing people buy each other for Christmas which is the reason i tell people please don't buy me it. But i want it. I know i'll never use it, it's just too pretty! It would make a great gift, but even better than that would be to make it yourself. I'm already looking for moulds.

I'm a fashion student, it's a fashion book. I don't really need to explain.

I died when i saw the pug bag. I love pugs so much, there are the cutest things ever! (Apart from my cats, and sloths of course!) But i got a little hand mirror on Valentine's Day with same photo, perfect match. No 4 looks a lot like a cosmetic bag i wanted from Topshop a couple of months ago and i think it would make a great present, even as a pencil case?

I've like Strathcona stockings for quite a while now, they're just so pretty! Unfortunately i do not wear socks. They are quite pricey at $36 but i don't think you'd be able to find any others as lovely as these. 

I lost my favourite ever watch since moving to Leeds, i have been trying to find a replacement but none seem to be good enough. The watch didn't even work, but it was just so pretty it didn't matter. I would like to find a good one, but i would much prefer to have a vintage/secondhand one, they have more character (working or not). 

And No 7 is cute. I like it. Kinda Christmassy!

NEW ROMANTIC INFLUENCES: MUSIC

Several music performers adopted the New Romantic style and further cemented it in popular culture as a memorable trend. The most popular of these bands being Ultravox, Duran Duran, Visage, ABC, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club.  Japan and Adam and the Ants were also labelled as New Romantic artists, although they had no direct connection to the original scene. A number of these bands adopted the use of synthesisers and helped to develop the Synthpop style of music in the early 1980s.

Duran Duran

Duran Duran are an English New Band formed in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands in the 1980's. The band's controversial videos, which included partial nudity and sexual suggestions, became popular in the early 1980s on the new music video channel MTV. 

Since the 1980s, they have sold more than 100 million records had 14 singles in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart and 21 in the Billboard Hot 100. Throughout the 80's the band were considered to be part of the New Romantic scene until the movement became too mainstream, where they then shed the look to be replaced by a more elegant image. 

Visage

Visage are an English New Wave rock band formed in 1978. The band was founded by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan who were hosting club nights at Blitz nightclub in Great Queen Street, London. They were eager to find new music to play in the club and opted to create it themselves. 

The band's most popular single, "Fade to Grey", was released in 1980 and became a huge hit in early 1981. It made it into the Top Ten in the UK Singles Chart as well as in several other countries, and reaching no.1 in Germany and Switzerland. The album also became a Top 20 hit in the UK and was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. Lead singer Steve Strange was an icon of the New Romantic movement, if not the most iconic. 

ABC

ABC are an English New Romantic band that was formed in 1980. The band formed when Martin Fry interviewed the band Vice Versa for his own fanzine, Modern Drugs, in the 70's. The two musicians asked Fry to join the band as the lead vocalist and he soon took control of the electronic band. The band changed their name to ABC and became more pop-orientated.

ABC had ten UK and five US Top 40 Chart Singles between 1981 and 1990. Their most famous being "Poison Arrow", "The Look of Love" and "When Smokey Sings". They're known for having theatrical videos, wearing decorative suits and a camp style.

Spandau Ballet

Spandau Ballet are an English New Wave band that formed in 1979. The band were frequently spotted in The Blitz Club as they were inspired by the New Romantics and became an integral part of this movement. 

The band was one of the most successful bands of the 1980s, achieving ten Top Ten singles and four Top Ten albums in the UK between 1980 and 1990 where they split. The band have later reunited in 2009. 

Culture Club

Culture Club was an English New Wave band that was part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. Their lead vocalist Boy George was a fashion icon in the 80's being a frequent visitor to The Blitz Club and a former employee (Read more here). The band's second album, Colour by Numbers, sold more than 10 million copies worldwide, and they had several international hits.

Culture Club's music combines many styles including New Wave, American soul and Jamaican reggae. For the five years the band were together initially, Culture Club had hits in several countries around the world, including ten Top 40 hits in the US, most of which went Top 10. In 1984 the band won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and a Brit Award for Best British Group.

Adam and the Ants

Adam and the Ants were a British rock which formed in 1977 and later again in 1980. The band became popular during the transition from the punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era.  The band were known for their highly camp and overtly sexualised stage performances. 

Adam & the Ants' 1980 album Kings of the Wild Frontier was Number One in the UK Album Chart for a total of twelve weeks. The album Prince Charming produced the biggest hit singles with Stand and Deliver and the title track achieving five weeks and four weeks respectively as Number One singles on the UK Singles Chart.

Dead or Alive

Dead or Alive was a British New Wave band that formed in 1980. The band had seven Top 40 UK singles and three Top 30 UK albums. Dead or Alive, have released eleven albums, and became popular in Japan. Two of the group's singles reached the US Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100; "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" and "Brand New Lover". 

"You Spin Me Round" charted in 1985 in the UK, then again in 2003 and 2006 following lead vocalist Pete Burns' appearance on the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother.

FASHION & FUNGI

Here is my final Fashion Guide! I thought i'd blog about it seen as how i got my results on Monday. I got a FIRST!! I'm so chuffed, the amount of effort i have put into this project, i'm so happy! The embroidered page alone took me 6 straight hours on the sewing machine. The only critique i got was writing too much so i'll have to learn from that. I was dreading hand-in, i'm always quite down on myself about my work, it's never good enough and i can guarantee i'll redo it about 2 or 3 times before i'm even remotely satisfied. Quite a confidence booster!

"NEW CONCLUSIONS" SKETCHBOOK

As you may read or may not have. My first project of my fashion course was "New Conclusions" as part of the Fashion Practice and Methodologies module. The task was a research based one, creating mood boards and exploring your chosen subject. So here is a few bits of my sketchbook!

Over summer we were asked to create a box and fill it with, basically things that you like to create a Primary and Secondary research mood board. All of my box items were 3D so my Primary research board was not that great in all honesty. My items were so nice, i did put a lot of effort into collecting them but it wasn't specified what they were actually for. I should probably bring my box home, it's still under my table! Anyway, for my Secondary research i looked at a mixture of my favourite things i find inspiring. Art Deco has to be my favourite movement, the structures and shapes are so beautiful so i focused a part of my board on doorways. Another part i looked at was Fetish wear, i based my Final Major Project on it in College, i'm not sure why i find it interesting but i think maybe because it's different and unusual.

And finally i looked at Structural fashion and Contemporary fashion. Including the work of one of my favourite fashion designers Iris Van Herpen. 

The next part of my mood boards were association related. I was given a word at random and had to stem off from it as a technique of finding inspiration. My word was Hardscape. 

After completing the word association, we were asked to complete a picture association board. I chose a photograph of Anne Boleyn. This eventually stemmed to Henry VIII > Execution > Murder > Rose and Fred West > Prison > Lady Gaga's Telephone Video < Celebrity < Money < Royalty < Elizabeth I. This was another technique of inspiration ideas and i did find it quite strange that i could get Lady Gaga from Anne Boleyn. It was interesting. 

The next board i created was based on Leeds. Instead of basing it on Leeds itself, i looked more at the architecture. The buildings in Leeds are really beautiful, especially the oldest ones. Throughout Leeds there is a wide variety of different types all in one place. For instance in Millennium Square, where there is the strangest shaped building (you can see below), it's very modern and artistic and happens to be next to the Leeds Museum which is vey old and decorative. 

A bit like the picture associate board, i was given a page of strange paragraphs. I had to create a board that tells the story just through photos. 

"Another beautiful sunrise bathed Strathnaver Forest in a warm summer's glow, chasing away the dark shadows of the night. Beyond the tree line, hidden deep in the Scottish wilderness lived a secret world, lost in the history of the once great lands of the Sutherland countries. Carefully nestled high in the trees, hidden in nature's greens and browns, were the homes of the fairies of the old Sutherland kingdom. Duty, fear and maybe guilt had led to this secret kingom's history being re-written, the powerful rulers deciding what their fairy people should believe."

Out of the paragraph i focused on the words "Fairies", "Wilderness", "Forest", "Scotland" and "Sunrise". I also looked at work from designers Alexander McQueen and Givenchy which i think had a 'fairy' inspired fell to them which could relate to my board. 

I was given the word "soul" and had to create a mood board in that theme. Naturally i expanded and focused my theme on Death instead. There are some really great books in the library on death, i think the subject is so interesting. 

For my last initial research board i chose to base it on jellyfish. I looked at jellyfish inspired clothing and tried to create techniques and samples i could incorporate into a garment design. 

We were then asked to extend our 3 initial boards in relation to Theme, Colour and Shape. From my Fairy board i decided to look more at the word "Forest" and looked into the plant life found there. Primarily into Fungi because of the interesting shapes, colours and textures.

For my pages on Soul i looked into designs by Alexander McQueen which i think represented 'soul', as well as Fashion icon Lady Gaga and Skeletons. 

When i got to the Jellyfish extension pages i had realised i really didn't feel as inspired as Soul and Fungi. Everything about Jellyfish is interesting and unusual but i was just not feeling it.

It was hard to decide which board i wanted to develop. Soul is more my kind of style but i was worried that as i had already based my FMP on death, it would be too similar and i would be stuck in that mindset. Fungi was the only other option. I was a little stuck in the beginning of what to actually do because i've not done anything similar to Fungi or even anything none-related to death or sex. So i started off exploring Mould and different types of fungi, and ways i could incorporate techniques to replicate them. 

I even experimented with ways i could create patterns for fabric. 

As part of my design ideas i layered and resized photos of fungi to create silhouettes for garment inspiration.

Fashion Guide layout plan. 

I'm not completely happy with my sketchbook. But i do think i've improved a lot on presentation since the beginning of this brief. My later pages are a lot better in my opinion.