A Very Vintage Award season round up

While watching the Oscars live online... (and don't worry a follow-up post is soon to come!) I think it was long overdue for a post round-up of the award season dresses of this year. Like every young-girl-at-heart I love to look over the looks produced at the awards... dressing up and diamonds are a girls best friend....

The Golden Globes

No surprises here, this is my selection of the Golden Globes dresses, which I know many people have also matched, but how could you deny these stunning ladies.  The emerald green, long sleeve dress adorned by Angelina Jolie, and the radiant January Jones both look incredible in eye-catching Atelier Versace evoking previous eras from the strong power dressing 80's to Jones 50's glamour. 

Natalie Portman elegantly dressing, proving a baby bump can look chic (this is going to be one fashionable baby) in advantageous Viktor & Rolf.  Contemporary classics shine on Emma Stone, simplistic yet desirable.  

Some others I must not fore-go without mentioning the classically beautiful Anne Hathaway in a deep midnight blue gown. So great to see individualistic vintage making an appearance on the red carpet with Julianna Margulies in a sophisticated vintage Yves Saint Laurent black and pink column dress, my actress of the moment Amy Adams in a perfect fitting frock by celbs favourite Marchesa and wow Mila Kunis is an engima in yet another injection of green hues in Vera Wang.

Screen Actors Guild Awards 

Some further examples of Vintage glamour executed to a 'T' at the suitably era-esque Screen Actors Guild, was Glee star Dianna Argon who wore a vintage Chanel dress (yes I lust in envy too) and Kyra Sedwick in vintage couture Thierry Mugler. January Jones also once again looked spectacular in an ornate Carolina Herrera dress and Clare Danes really pulled of a Louis Vuitton number.   

The BAFTA's

Enough to make you proud to be British... although our state-side friends appear to have just clasped the fashion edge from us; with Old Hollywood glamour oozing from every corner tailored by the master than is Tom Ford. Evidently a talented director as designer, co-actress Julianne Moore and Eva Green appeared as silver screen goddesses on the rep carpet courtesy of Mr. Ford. Gemma Arteton looked equally elegant in her  black velvet Yves Saint Laurent gown, accentuated by the punchy electric blue bow. 

I was also taken back by the looks of my (and possibly everyone elses) current obession Hailee Steinfield whom is repeatedly refereed to as dressing 'age appropriate' however that aside she dresses incredibly well for a young lady of her age, personally I felt she stole the show in her Mui Mui outfit, which goes to show style is not always attributed to the age of the wearer. 
Again may be slightly bias here but I felt Amy Adams dress did do her justice and tone really works against her pale complexion and Emma Stone's bold Lanvin colour blocking/clashing dress really inserts a statement. 


The Brits

Btits do quirky red-carpet glam the best. Ellie Golding in an impeccable Vintage Viv Westwood dress. Welsh songstress Katherine Jenkins sexy-wartime-siren persona embraced her voluptuous curves and Paloma... well is just Paloma, apart from appearing to have been run over several times her accessories are key to her vintage inspired look.  

Grammy Awards

And over the pond to the Grammy's where brit girl Florence Welch just looked incredible in Givenchy Couture justifying her potions as Frida Giannini muse for her A/W11 collection.  

Although all the controversy surrounding Rihanna's JPG dress (when is there not?) I actually quite like it, although only Rihanna can pull it off as only Rihanna can. 

Elle Style Awards

And finally the Elle Style awards, showing that vintage and vintage homaged/inspired looks are indeed the embodiment of London; easy going 'not -trying too hard' yet very understated appearance.  

Friday Night Late

Friday night lates at the V&A really did look so promising ... See here. An evening packed full of Archive related events, sessions, I had even made a military precision plan (or so I thought) of my nights proposed itinerary.

So the plan was that I would go to the talk first turns out after finding the grand library it was full and no one else was allowed in, possibly lucky as it was so dark in there I may of possibly dropped asleep in amongst the books. Well I put this down to nit arriving as early as I had hoped and made my way back over to the sackler centre to sign up for the blogging sessions to be told that there was no sign up as previous told at the main reception and infact I just needed to come back 10mins or so before, so I go off to grab something to eat and come back to a large que got into the confined computer room minus being able to be assigned to a computer. So perched at the back I had high hopes for the blogging session, turns out prehaps a little to high.

No disregard to the lovely blokes who were running the session however, it really did not tell me anything new and was to be honest delivered in a rather uninspiring way. I am no blogging expert granted, however two guys who obviously did not know a huge amount about fashion blogging yet trying to discuss this was beyond me, why did the V&A not try and secure indeed one of the many high profile fashion bloggers out there to give this presentation?

One thing that really did catch my eye was the work of John Delago  who uses old, vintage postcards to create 'new narratives' which evoke memories. He uses a variation of media in his work from collage, ink and paint which the develops into yet another beautiful memory fueled image.  

Again sadly when I arrived they had no materials left to create my own but see some other people who were lucky enough to give it ago below, they are quite impressive. 

The best comment of the night was while a group of us were admiring the creations a lady wondered whether people had used their own photographs until we all piped up and noticed how popular the little boy image truly was.... 

The Video to accompany the Volt Icons Shoot

VOLT Original Icons from Volt Magazine on Vimeo.
Introducing our Original Icons. What is an icon? You may not know any of these women – yet. In their own special way they are (extra)ordinary everyday icons. They are not world famous (yet!) but are all the more important because of it. Every journey starts with the first step.

Be inspired. We felt that the freshness of the adidas Blue collection and Jeremy Scott’s playful and witty designs for adidas Originals by Originals, designed to be fun and bold, are the perfect backdrop for our iconic Volt/adidas collaboration.

The Video has arrived arrrgh!... it is so hard to listen to yourself let alone watch yourself... but as it is Volt I may have to allow this one. I have no idea how presenters do this every day, as you can obviously see I aint no expert...far from it. All the ladies are so lovely and once again so inspiring. 

Volt 09 ❘ Original Icons shoot

Drum roll please..... I can finally reveal the secrecy which was the shoot I was lucky to be involved in on a snowy December day... The Volt 09 ❘ Icons shoot. 

What is an Icon, a difficult question to pose, and believe me one I have pondered over for many hours however Volt's Original Icons sums up the notion perfectly. Embracing the iconic that others would of not of even dreamed of.... Volt stands out from the crowd in that it shines the light on the unexpected. (apologies for my gushing) but I cannot help but express my ♥ of Volt!  

Feel very privileged to have been a part of such a wonderful shoot, surrounded by iconic, strong and successful women. From the beautiful Gemma Cairney, to musical talent Misty Miller and iconic model Daphne Selfe to name but a few... The feature is so impressive! everyones thoughts and feelings on iconic women is so inspiring. It truly does provides you with a humbling and proud feeling that we should indeed celebrate such individuals.

please be sure to check out the full feature online at Volt Cafè. [warning: prepared to be inspired]

Above Myself with fellow students, Nada, Shola and Emelie. 

This shoot will be featured in Volt 09, which not only has one but Two covers. A stellar line-up of models including Alice Dellal, and Anais Pouliot, who grace the front covers as well as shoots by Joost Vandenberg, Andreas Blackmann and Alastair Strong.... - you must get your hands on this fantastic publication to appreciate it, in it's true form. 


Advance copies of Volt 9 (S/S 11 issue) will be available exclusively at Magma Books only from 4PM today. On Sale Nationwide from 1st of March.


Volt 09 features not one, but TWO covers. 

Volt 9 is also now available in Moldova (for further information contact: sugar@arutinart.com +373 22 22 38 21) 

The Countdown begins to the launch of Diane Von Furstenberg’s New Vintage-Inspired Collection

In Just under 4 hours Diane Von Furstenberg's new vintage line will launch on DVF.com.... how exciting I hear you shrill. 

The Cut revealed the exclusive new accompanying video to the collection, which can be viewed below.  

The Video is an enchanting bricolage of the history that is DVF, snappy and cool her collection embodies her famous vintage prints on her updated version of the iconic wrap dress. The collection is also said to include accessories, swimwear, an the all important tech-cover-up's; ipod and ipad cases.   

It is interesting to note that The Cut refers to the line as being ingeniously vintage yet without the old smell. We have seen many designer brands such as Prada and Marni selling 'Vintage' Collections or be it  "modernized versions"  in a homage to the past, vintage pieces. I think this is something we will see becoming only more prevalent with designer brands wanting a cut of our current vintage obsession and what with the term vintage becoming so easily transferable, as let's face it most people consider pieces of at least 10 years of age as now Vintage... hello my circa 2000 'vintage' jumper?? This I feel will become common place.... How long until The Highstreet starts visiting their Archive? M&S has already been there, Primarni vintage?  

All Walks of Life...

Image via Sushi and Starbucks

Sometimes you mean to post something for a good while, yet somehow manages to take you a life time to get around to doing it.... it is not to say that is of any less relevance or importance to anything else, if anything more-so because for me I want to give everything I post my utter most best to at least research and  produce a piece that not only informs but hopefully that I can be proud of....

One such piece that has been lurking around for a while is.... (sorry I want to scream out of excitement!), that the legendary Caryn Franklin made a visit back in December to my humble uni in Epsom to give us a fantastic, thought provoking lecture about her new project, 'All Walks Beyond The Catwalk'.

Taken back by not only how effortlessly amazing she looks... we are of course all in awe of her from her Clothes Show days, she spoke eloquently and engaged us all in her discussion on the female form, from our perceptions to what the fashion industry promotes and how we can change this skewered view on body image:

"All Walks Beyond the Catwalk is an organisation that recognises the power the fashion industry has to communicate positive messages to women and men about their bodies and acts. Small steps, big ideas"     

I love the idea of  ‘celebrating diversity within fashion’ and rung true to my own investigations for my dissertation, and with us being "the future of fashion" yet it be said, it is important that we consider the message our own work may convey and implement positive representations.   

One book Caryn recommended us all to read is Susie Orbach, Bodies... a challenging literary discussion on the contemptuous subject of the body... 'A rousing polemic on the western obsession with physical perfection' --India Knight, Sunday Times. 

We all also had the chance to add our response to the topic and answer what is diversity? onto the travelling calico below: 

Image Via All Walks

Image Via All Walks

Image Via All Walks

Which then was adapted by co-founder Erin O'Connor into a beautiful interiors piece and then displayed as part of a fashion piece at the All Walks 'SNAPPED' event at the National Portrait Gallery. "Turning a collaboration between many into a form of art expressing young creatives views on diversity in a celebratory way" - All Walks

Unfortunately I was unable to make down to this celebratory event as I would of loved to of seen the beautiful images by Rankin on show, although many of my student peers went and found it truly inspiring. 

Be inspired yourself and read this fabulous interview with Caryn Franklin herself by my good friend Nada for Volt Cafe, resulting from nabbing her after our lecture we couldn't help but want to spread the word... How about getting involved yourself?.... be sure to check out the All Walks Website: allwalks.org

The 'D' Word

Dyslexia, (ironically a word I constantly have to look up how to spell) is a specific learning difficulty, which is said to affect at least 1 in 10 people (Yale university studies). According to the British Dyslexia Association

'...Dyslexia is a combination of abilities and difficulties that affect the learning process in one or more of reading, spelling and writing.' Dyslexia is often widely misunderstood as meaning that you are somehow unintelligent, or one I hear often, is that it is purely just a cop out, and does not exist, a made up psychology tale. However it can occur at any level of intellectual ability, well hey if Einstein is part of the gang I would hate to dispute that fact. 

Dyslexic people are said to have strengths in visual and spatial abilities, original thought and creativity, enabling them to be successful in a wide range of careers. Some successful artists and design creative’s who are dyslexic are Leonardo da Vinci, Auguste Rodin, Terence Woodgate, David Bailey and Tomacz Starzewski. The Dyslexia Arts Trust aims to ‘draw attention to the high creative potential of the many visually-dominant dyslexic minds’. Richard Branson whom is the epitome of entrepreneurship speaks openly in the quest to help others, “Being dyslexic can actually help in the outside world. I see some things clearer than other people do because I have to simplify things to help me and that has helped others.” Dyslexics may often attempt the most difficult solution in regards to speed, detail and organisation of information but they are often regarded as excellent at analysis and reasoning.

Looking at my screen now I have at least a dozen red fuzzy lines scattered throughout this document alone, although always with the distinct knowledge that I have awful spelling ability I had never considered myself as possibly being dyslexic. Throughout school I would always get picked up for my spellings with massive red rings round made up words. There is a theme building here with the symbolic red, red as in wrong, red as in danger, so used to seeing these markings I think I became immune, I just tended to struggle through. To be fair I didn’t even do half bad although always excelling in the creative side, the “less academic subjects” as my Dad called them. My school was slack to acknowledge that dyslexia even existed although a possible 10% of the pupils were probably suffering with some sort of learning difficulty.

When I reached further education a tutor suggested I should get myself tested after reading an essay of mine. Well last year I did infact get tested as having ‘severe’ dyslexia, serve I thought was being a bit harsh although when I explained to an assessor that even spellchecker does not even know what I am trying to say, she had a concerning look on her face. Since then I have had to embrace this tag that is now attached to me, and honestly I am still not certain whether I prefer knowing or to reminisce of the oblivious life I lead before.

Never did I think that being termed dyslexic would hugely impact on my life as it now has, I was under the impression that I just was bad at spelling that’s it. I may sound like I am being slightly melodramatic, and boy many times I notice the discerning glances of ‘oh just get over it’, but it has become so apparent to me that it just conflicts with tasks daily.

Artwork by Quan Do http://www.another.nu

While enduring the lengthy process of screening and assessments, which stretched over a 6-month span, it was brought to my attention my way of working and how I process information. Asked question like do I get confused between left and right and did I struggle to learn to tie my shoe laces were hitting the nail on the head while other where just so far flung. Being so closely inspected I was shown that my speed of reading is two times slower than that of a non-dyslexic. See I would have never notice or considered that before but now that its boldly pointed out to me, I see myself on the tube still examining the front page while others have been, done and read that page.

Also I feel like now I have to let people know of my disability, I hate that term, I feel like a fraud to say I’m suffering from a disability, yet I’m still unreserved to mention it without sounding like I’m bearing it as an excuse. It is sometimes embarrassing to admit to people, mainly due to the stigma attached to it. There was this one incident at work where I had misspelled a crucial link in an email which caused a few problems, and I felt that I wanted to mention my dyslexia to my manager so that she was aware but felt ashamed and when I did try to subtly drop it into conversation I felt that I it may sound like I was trying to get sympathy. Unable to pinpoint mistakes and often overlook them is becoming a bit of a fear of mine and tasks are taking double the time with me constantly re-reading and checking over all pieces. These blog posts for instance take a lot of time for me to just conceive one entry yet I’m sure you have all noticed regular mistakes throughout. I don’t want to shy away from displaying my writing as I do enjoy it and heck I once actually wanted to be a journalist until I realized it was kind of vital that you must know how to spell even without the help (or lack) of spellchecker facilities.

I do often wander if my frustrations are isolated and come across as slightly self-pitying but I am not going without saying that I have indeed received some amazing support to help alleviate the effects. I find some people quite dismissive to fantastic specialist teaching and equipment I have been provided with, I get treated as if I am claiming benefits which I am not entitled to, as if I am playing the system. Lets make this clear I pay taxes too and sometimes I just like to believe they may actually just be jealous because I have something they haven’t. 

Some great sites dedicates to the subject of dyslexia:

http://www.xtraordinarypeople.com

http://www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk/

http://www.beingdyslexic.co.uk/

Reading Uni Vintage Day

Last week I attended the first 3sixty Vintage Day held by the Students of the vintage & retro society at Reading University. Part of green week, vintage is ethical option for those who want to exercise their recycling and sustainable credentials... It was indeed a credit to them as it was a fantastic event with the students turning out in force. 

Rushed off my feet on the Frock&Roll stall (see below) I unfortunately managed to take very few pics, however this young talented photographer, Veronica Virna, who was luckily on hand to capture some amazing shots of the day. So Thank you to Veronica for the courtesy of your photos. 

http://www.veronicavelvet.com     

Complimentary Vintage Fashion Fair tickets

As you may know I love a good Vintage Fashion Fair; vintage clothing, accessories and fabrics all from various different eras all under one roof... Anita's Vintage Fashion Fairs are renowned for their quality and if you want to have a look at what was at offer at last years BAC fair, have a look at my round-up post here.   

So hopefully that has wetted your vintage appetite and luckily I have been given these complimentary tickets, which admit two people into any of Anita's fairs (dated on the tickets) at BAC Battersea and the 20th Century Theatre, Notting hill. 

Feel free to print them off or get in contact with myself. 

The Westbourne Grove Vintage Fair is this Sunday and always has a great selection of vintage pieces on offer. Hopefully see you there!

My Love Affair with Volt

A simple love equation...  Me + Volt = Falling back in Love all over again

Want to get that warm fuzzy feeling all over again?.. head over to Volt Café and browse through the inspiring entries of the Volt Love Hangover competition. In celebration of the day that is Valentines and the run-up to the anticipation which is the launch of Volt issue 09, Volt Cafe invited readers to submit their own personal interpretations of Love. The brief could be approached in a myriad of mediums; from film, to illustration, to a quote or image, and wow the array of submissions was varied and heartening.... And if you scroll down your may find an entry by little ole me....      

Lovely, Lovely Weekend...

This weekend I decided I would finally go and mooch round Fanny's Antiques - a well established Berkshire Antiques emporium, situated surprisingly in the centre of Reading. I was on the search for an Edwardian style chair or stall for my dressing table and thought I would make sure I had a look round the renowned Fanny's first...  

 

The beautiful ground floor display, especially for Valentines Day was appealing and inspiring, and yet was quite a commercial visual display, set in a some-what unconventional leaky building which housed an eclectic mix of antiques. You need to be on aware of certain pieces and know what you are looking for in a place such as this. 

For me, a relatively new antique shopper, this is slightly overwhelming, however do not get me wrong I do think there is some real bargains to be found!  

I did discover a few nice pieces including a fabric wrapped chair (below), a children's christening trinket, an elaborate metal frame mirror (below) and some petite cups and saucers. Although I did not purchase any of them on the day, I am very inclined to visit there again soon, to see what I can discover, however perhaps not on such a wet and bitter day. 

The First Reading Vintage Fair

Reading's Vintage scene is well and truly flourishing, from vintage boutiques to vintage fashion fairs ... there is no better news than for my beloved hometown to finally provide an alternative fashion, (not to mention ethical and nostalgic also) to break up the cloned hightreet scattered with all the usual chain stores which are slowly eradicating any town or city individual personality... but to put a change to all that is the first Reading Vintage Fashion Fair, held at the formidable Purple Turtle Bar. 

After the previously planned December fair was cancelled due to the 'adverse weather conditions', I was overjoyed to see that this was not a plan that had just been snowed under and infact the fair was set to go ahead in the new year on 30th Jan.... and of course I had to turn up to show my support, and well maybe to do a little shopping...