Avant Garde Every Day

One of my new years resolutions (yes those distant memories) was to be more adventurous with clothing, makeup and hair. With such an interest in high fashion and an admiration for those crazy ass designers that make you squint your eyes lemon-zest style when you see golden bird cage shoes-looking at you D&G- I am constantly trying to find ways to have a little bit of runway wacko in my wardrobe. Now, unless you're Kate Moss, it's a bit of a challenge to pull off something that has just stepped off the Alexander McQueen runway (or glass pyramid in this case), and not to mention a little impractical. Here I have brought a few ideas of how you can inject a little haute couture into your everyday outfits, which require a little confidence to pull off, but not so much that you're shopping for eggs wearing a ruffled pink number with an even pinker violin strapped to your neck a la Viktor & Rolf. These are only a starting point and meant to inspire, and hopefully a post on avant garde hair and makeup should follow.

Strange Shades

Every good fashion peacock deserves a pair of sunglasses that stay as far away from sun protection and are fit for their purpose- to entertain and make people go 'oooh'. Oversized, embellished, oddly shaped. Anything goes. I traced the edges of the pair of some old sunnies onto some yellow foam and glue gunned the little semi circles to the bottom of the glasses.

Print Screen

Now, it is easier than it has ever been to acquire a piece with a crazy print from the high street, and then get the bottoms to match to make yourself a nice little two piece. There are really three ways to go here; clashing, matching, or a kooky print with the rest of your outfit toned down. Possibly the easiest to get your hands on, but has the biggest impact.

Kooky Collar

The collar is just the starting point. Add embellishment, fun dying techniques and unusual cutting to create a runway worthy piece. A bare shoulder and collar bones create more drama with a single collar.

Heelarious

Shoes are easy to customise because generally the surface of shoes take paint and glue really well. You could use a stencil for a neat edge when painting the shoes and stick or sew tiny bits of fur onto the shoes like me (not the neatest example but you get my drift).

The Possibilities Of A Scarf: The Back-To-Front Top DIY

In perhaps every charity shop, there's a little woven basket or tatty box that is overflowing with silk, tartan or paisley scarves. They usually sell these very cheaply or have some insane offer on like, 'five for a pound' because they are so eager to get rid of these bad boys to make space for the other scarves that the old people keep bringing in! Bless their little brooched bodies because these scarves are the materials of thee gods. Buy them (and get change from a pound) and I promise a lifetime of pleasure from that small square of goodness because, honestly, there are one million ways to wear a scarf!

In this little feature I'm going to showcase a few ways to wear scarfs, and a little different to the usual tutorials you see which only really go as far as; neck scarf, belt, sarong, bandanna. So without further ado onto the DIY.

Disclaimer: Do not be put off by the itsy-bitsy bit of sewing that this DIY entails. I personally hate sewing, I would much rather boss people about and tell them how I want my garment and be the creative behind the garment. Also, I'm not great at it either, so just keep that in mind. 

Making this reversible top is one of the easiest things you can do ever, and it will look hot too. What I like about this is that you can use whatever scarfs you like, so you have scope to get creative on how you want this to look. The constant oriental vibes on the runway inspired me to choose the scarfs I did to create this eastern style. We have seen the oriental trend in luxury clothing for seasons now, and it is really annoying me how the majority of high street shops haven't really caught onto this huge trend, perhaps in the fear that people wont buy since they are still caught up in the whole 'Pride of Britain' thing we have going on at the moment thanks to the Olympics and whatnot. So my point is, you can vary this basic shirt with the right patterns and colours to give the mood you like.

All you need are your desired two scarfs and something to sew with. I used a sewing machine, but it will just take a little longer if you hand sew. What makes this project so easy is that it doesn't involve any hemming (the work of the devil) or cutting since the scarfs will already be ready for you to use when bought.

So lay your two scarfs on top of each other, the sides you want on show facing each other.

Then sew the two scarfs together where indicated below. It's an awful 'diagram' so just sew the whole of the left side, the whole of the right side and about one quarter of the way in on each side at the top. Then when you're done, you will be able to turn your top inside out and VOILA. How easy was that?



































My post on 'Everyday ways to avant garde' coming soon!

Commit Tee

I think the climax of a year long project I have been working on deserves a place on kmau. What started out as an idea with a girl in my art class very early on in 2012 has, in the past 12 months, evolved into me and now, a new, very good friend having our own small collection of clothes. 

Me and Hannah, founders of 'Trashion' at our stall at our exhibition before the show.

I have always wanted to hold a little fashion show at school, and Hannah happened to share this idea too- we initially wanted to hold a fashion show with a recycled twist, turning 'rubbish' (or trash) into things of beauty. And so came the name 'Trashion'. Very cheeesy I admit, but this show was to be put on for school kids, something we had to bear in mind all the way through this process. After a chat with our head teacher, we decided Trashion would fit in nicely with our annual prom fayre, where fifth year's have the opportunity to buy dresses and all that jazz for their prom, and it emerged that we would be taking on the HUMONGOUS and TERRIFYING task of designing and hand making a line of prom dresses.

My sci- fi mood boards and some of my designs in a page of our design portfolio.

Although we were making completely wearable dresses now, not out of 'trash', we kept with the name Trashion, sticking to our roots. At any point if there was a more eco friendly or recycled alternative, we went with that alternative. 

Seeing four completed dresses being walked down the 'runway', I am now so proud to say that I co founded this project. Me and Hannah, the other co founder, each made our own dress, and others who we invited to join the project made a fab job of the other two dresses. By doing something like this, you will get pricks taking the mickey and probably a few pin pricks when sewing, but the amount I have learnt from this is unreal. I have learnt design skills, how to use a sewing machine (a strange article I previously had no experience with EVER), the art of compromising, dying material, putting on a fashion show and I had fun too. A damn lot of hard work but worth it. I had a great night and here are some photos from the Trashion Committee's part in the Prom Fayre. 

Some photos of my galactic inspired, tinker bell style dress. My design included a leather one shoulder strip to sass my dress up a bit, but working to such a tight deadline there was no time to get this finished. The galactic print I also soo badly wanted, had to in the end be dyed by hand instead of digitally printed on, so there is still a spacey effect, but not as obvious as I would have ideally wanted. My model is May, the sweetest sixth former and model anyone could ever ask for. She did brilliantly.

I am fed up of seeing all of the same style prom dresses, and wanted something fun that someone a little quirky could wear for prom. Being 16 you shouldn't take things too seriously, and I wanted my dress to reflect this.

Things that annoyed me were not having any input into how hair or makeup would look, and how we were forced into having our models wearing heels. I wanted May in trainers. We also wanted the models walking to the BRILLIANT track that is Zomboy Featuring Belle Humble- City 2 City but had to settle the Charli XCX's Valentine. I am a tad controlling.

Me (looking awful) and May backstage.

DIY THIS SEASON

After seeing the first idiot of the year without a shirt at the first hint of sun, Topshop's spring/summer issue of 214 on my floor and the shows for a/w 13/14 almost over, I'm getting the hint that some sunny weather is *hopefully* almost upon us! Since it's time to start thinking about less layers (and an irritating parasite called Megan that is urging me to do another post haha) I have compiled a little list of small ways to d.i.y through summer. This is something that I have notes on for a while, I just needed a good kick to do it!

1. Hamma beads are quite the artistic material. You can iron them, stick em, sew with them and there's probably lots of potential for other things. Leutton Postle (below) use them and the little dog is my attempt at jazzing up some denim for a cutesy Harajuku style. The detail that has gone into the summer collection and Dolce & Gabbana is splendid, and with a little imagination you could create some sweet detailing of your own to resemble this collection.

Image from Style Bubble

Images from Vogue UK

2. Embellishment! I cannot stress what some pretty stickers or card decorations can do to old accessories! Prada Embellished sunglasses are sexy kk? Go crazy on a pair of glasses with your new best buddies.

image from bosconos.tumblr.com

Bows are another way to embellish and will cutesy up EVERYTING. Meadham Kirchoff, my favorite design duo EVER did this very well at their spring/summer 2013 show. Take inspiration from the masters. Whether you make your own or buy them from a craft shop, you can cutesy up bags, socks, hats, the works. 

Image from Vogue uk

3. The painted wedge is the first thing on my diy to do list (i do actually have one), seen at the glorious Dolce & Gabbana show. I am going to buy some wooden wedges from the chazza shop, get my acryillics out and start painting! And a tip, when you are painting straight lines or want to avoid getting paint on an area, cover with masking tape or just use a strip of tape.

Image from vogue uk
4. You can paint some clutches too, and can easily create a piece that fits in nicely with this seasons huge monochrome trend. To be honest, the mono trend is not something I'm crazy on but all you will need to update a clutch (or really any other accessory which can be spray painted) is some masking tape and black and white spray paint. 

For simple stripes, first spray your item either white or black, stick some masking tape across it when dry, then spray again but with the other colour. When it has all dried, peel off the strips and you have stripes! If you are a tiny bit more adventurous, you can cross the tape over so you have a checkerboard pattern like at Louis Vuitton.

image from vogue uk

I always feel like I am kind of cheating when I use mostly images that are not mine, so apologies for that. Also, I apologize on not giving tutorials as such on how to do the full diy. This is partly as I would like to encourage you to use to use your imagination and get into the habit of seeing an expensive item and thinking 'how can i make that myself?' but also because I haven't done most of these diy's myself yet! I just had to share these!

megan is an ugli ho

The Water's Fall

A conversation with my little sister triggered an interesting thought- while filling out those good ol' 'about me' books you get for Christmas, the question of 'what couldn't' you live without' cropped up. She jokingly replied with 'water' and although obvious, it's interesting to think that water hasn't really been payed the attention it is due when it comes to fashion and the arts. It might not look as if something which deserves much glory, but why have so little people touched on how essential it is for the world? You could argue that water never seems to be out of the spotlight, whether this be an aqua inspired minimalist collection, or the many garments adorned with the oceans occupants (just look at last summer's marine life trend). And that's all fine and dandy, but it's surprising that not many people have really thought about how important water is and translated it into a beautiful piece of work. It is not just the fluid that runs from our taps and what we bottle up. It also serves to make beautiful, grand, natural wonders like waterfalls. Oh and it keeps us alive too. So how about a nice voluptuous ruffle to celebrate its importance and grandeur? Maybe a big, show stopping, thought provoking piece?  This is definitely an area which needs some creative heads. And I will be doing some further research on creatives who have celebrated water in the past.

The Cute and the Curious

For me, feelings of impulsiveness come gift wrapped (not forgetting the ribbon) with the experimental mind set of a Harajuku girl. Although I could not fully adopt this life style, there's always pieces of the Japanese Street Scene imprinted on my fashion decisions. This frame of mind can make you view even the most mundane of objects in a fun, fashion perspective- the other day I saw a bag of discount store mini plastic figures, with cutesy cats and rabbits and mini dogs, and instead of dismissing this as 'tack' I thought 'BOOYA DIY HAIR SLIDES ANYBODY?'  The over the top and inventive sense of clothing definitely has some appeal to little old me- sensible?  not quite. Although Japan isn't a place I've even visited, or in fact any parts of Asia ( I am of course a fourteen year old of limited means, duuh) I'm pretty sure this shiz is the way forward.

Here are some 'cute and curious' bits and bobs I have collected, often inspired by the fashions of Tokyo and its people.

The First Cut

This week I got excited about paper. It really shouldn't come as such a shock as I usually go all gooey eyed when is comes to delicate paper crafts and have a stash of pretty parchment beneath my bed. A visit to Manchester City Gallery's exhibition 'The First Cut' left me completely inspired with the possibilities of the common article. The third floor exhibitions runs up until 27th January next year and attempts to explore new and creative ideas, but also traditional methods in which paper can be crafted. Large installations as well as delicate, miniature worlds are part of the main exhibition, with some pieces embedded into the core collections, making the simple material and it's intricate capabilities flow nicely throughout the whole gallery. Thirty one international artists showcase their work here, each bringing very different thoughts on the reinvention of the modest object. Some made use of the mundane office paper, other artists recycling food packaging. 

 Yuken Teruya does exactly that, and in the above piece of work he makes use of a burger king bag, commenting on consumerism and our impact on the environment. Chris Kenny similarly collects pieces to use in his works, presented on pins, in the same way as a scrap book of memorabilia but right in front of you.
I HAD to buy the book of the exhibition, and it has come in handy here to show you a few pieces which I didn't get a snap of then and there.

Another artist that uses recycled materials is Manabu Hangai, who mainly transforms discarded hosojuzomo seaweed into paper, which he uses for the leaves in his walk through installation 'Wonder Forest'.  The suspended branches attempts to transform 'rubbish' into things of beauty, to compensate for the loss of forests.
        Here are a few other photographs that I took, and also some photos of the beautiful book (made of specialist papers, no less). Oh and I was unable to get a snap of Peter Callesan's work, who exquisitely crafts the sweetest little scenes from just a single sheet of A4. Seriously, check his stuff out. Ow.