For my Final Project, I will be putting together a magazine about alternative fashion and beauty in the UK. It will be called Fierce. There is a photographer I want to interview for the magazine, Darren Cheshire, and I've just learned that he sometimes works at the Contemporary Urban Centre on Greenland Street, where I'll be going for my interview tomorrow. Aha!
Xx
Friday, 25 February 2011
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Monday, 21 February 2011
Oscar de la Renta sketch
I'm very glad I discovered a PR girl for the label on Tumblr :)
Dare to Wear: Glass Dresses Exhibit by Diana Dias-Leão
A collection of dresses made mostly of coloured glass is now on display at the Walker Art Gallery.
The Dare to Wear exhibition, also called The Danger of the Image, consists of 14 glass dresses and two barbed-wire corsets, created by artist Diana Dias-Leão.
The beautifully engaging display, which includes works such as Graffiti Dress, Secret Garden Dress and Cobweb Dress, is intended to highlight the issues of inner beauty and body dysmorphia in society.
Dias-Leão said her creations are “inspired by the way people interact” and that she loves to “explore themes of isolation and interaction by using human form, with or without the second social skin of garments.”
She added: “Anorexia, bulimia, self harm and body dysmorphic disorder are on the increase and connected in some way with aspects relating to image and lack of confidence.”
Dias-Leão worked on the dresses from 2005, when she won the Student Award from the Worshipful Company of Glass, and achieved a Masters degree from the University of Sunderland the following year.
She also has a BA Honours degree in Fashion & Textiles, and a HNDip. in Glass. She has worked for several designers, from the high street to the high end.
This is her first solo display, although her works have also been featured in other exhibitions such as the British Glass Biennale in 2006. Her other creations include two enormous cobwebs made from yarn and glass, made for the Winter Garden exhibition, and her new line of jewellery.
The Dare to Wear exhibition, also called The Danger of the Image, consists of 14 glass dresses and two barbed-wire corsets, created by artist Diana Dias-Leão.
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Dias-Leão said her creations are “inspired by the way people interact” and that she loves to “explore themes of isolation and interaction by using human form, with or without the second social skin of garments.”
She added: “Anorexia, bulimia, self harm and body dysmorphic disorder are on the increase and connected in some way with aspects relating to image and lack of confidence.”
Dias-Leão worked on the dresses from 2005, when she won the Student Award from the Worshipful Company of Glass, and achieved a Masters degree from the University of Sunderland the following year.
She also has a BA Honours degree in Fashion & Textiles, and a HNDip. in Glass. She has worked for several designers, from the high street to the high end.
This is her first solo display, although her works have also been featured in other exhibitions such as the British Glass Biennale in 2006. Her other creations include two enormous cobwebs made from yarn and glass, made for the Winter Garden exhibition, and her new line of jewellery.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Friday, 18 February 2011
High time
The man I chased down on Monday gave me a time and place for today's protest, but the activists failed to appear. I'm in a tetchy mood now after getting up early on three hours' sleep, in vain and with not enough caffeine in my system, so I'll vent some steam by gushing about shoes.
Flicking through the ELLE Runway Edition (and by "flicking through" I mean absorbing and committing instantly to memory every s/s 2011 collection there is), I noticed that there were a lot more flat heels gracing the catwalk than usual. Mostly in the form of gladiator sandals, models for Lanvin, Donna Karan and Louis Vuitton - to name a few - were complimenting long, flowing skirts and short, snappy skirts alike with less than an inch-high sole.
And whilst normally I wouldn't get behind this, in the past year or so I've begun ditching my own heels and getting by without. What was simply an experimentation with ballerina pumps and flat-heeled boots blossomed into a love of the understated flat heel. I used to wear heeled boots on an almost daily basis and wouldn't be seen dead out of a pair of stilettos when dressing up. And alright, now I'm shorter and my legs don't look as great, but I've found I can walk faster and, contrary to my former belief, painful feet everyday needn't be a way of life.
However, sadly now whenever I go back to my heels for a night out, I've found I don't have the natural ability to walk in them with the grace I once did (which was minimal to begin with), and go hobbling back to my cutesy, less sexy ballet pumps.
So will it soon become fashionable to actually wear flat heels for a night on the tiles, so I don't feel alone in my heel hiatus? I hope Lanvin, Donna et al will answer my prayers.
Xx
Flicking through the ELLE Runway Edition (and by "flicking through" I mean absorbing and committing instantly to memory every s/s 2011 collection there is), I noticed that there were a lot more flat heels gracing the catwalk than usual. Mostly in the form of gladiator sandals, models for Lanvin, Donna Karan and Louis Vuitton - to name a few - were complimenting long, flowing skirts and short, snappy skirts alike with less than an inch-high sole.
And whilst normally I wouldn't get behind this, in the past year or so I've begun ditching my own heels and getting by without. What was simply an experimentation with ballerina pumps and flat-heeled boots blossomed into a love of the understated flat heel. I used to wear heeled boots on an almost daily basis and wouldn't be seen dead out of a pair of stilettos when dressing up. And alright, now I'm shorter and my legs don't look as great, but I've found I can walk faster and, contrary to my former belief, painful feet everyday needn't be a way of life.
However, sadly now whenever I go back to my heels for a night out, I've found I don't have the natural ability to walk in them with the grace I once did (which was minimal to begin with), and go hobbling back to my cutesy, less sexy ballet pumps.
So will it soon become fashionable to actually wear flat heels for a night on the tiles, so I don't feel alone in my heel hiatus? I hope Lanvin, Donna et al will answer my prayers.
Xx
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Mingling with the big boys
This morning I went to the Behind the Scenes event at the Leaf Bar on Bold Street, an opportunity to listen to experienced people in the media and creative fields, and to do some networking. (They also filmed the whole thing, so it was lucky I chose to wear my Chanel lipgloss.)
Some LJMU alumni, including one of last year's Journalism grads Chris Shaw, held a Q&A session about freelance work after graduation, and encouraged us to sign up for JMU's Fellowship programme, which I'm considering taking on in addition to the WoW Star. Apparently they can be very helpful with finding jobs after university is finished as well as advising you along the way. And I could really use all the advice I can get right now.
After listening to keynote speaker David Parrish (creative industries consultant and author of T-Shirts & Suits), who spoke about intellectual property when marketing your work, and about what it means to be "creative" in any industry, which is not categorised just by the more artistic, bohemian end sector (T-shirts) and the more 'Wall Street' sector (suits). "Creativity is everywhere." Nicely said.
I caught up with the only journalist appearing at the event, Andy Johnson (Chief Creative Officer for Purple Revolver online magazine), who gave me his business card and explained that to write for the magazine, he would want me to find out the zeitgeist of media, what people want to read about. If I submit any of the articles I write to the magazine, I could get paid per page hit, and as a bonus, can continue sending in work even if I move away from Liverpool. Once this entry's finished I'm applying for the vacant postion of record reviewer, since I already do simiar work for Bido Lito!.
Later I also chased down a man carrying a picket sign and learned that there will be an organised protest against the city banks happening on Friday afternoon. So I'll have a news story for JMU Journalism next week :)
~ Lee
Some LJMU alumni, including one of last year's Journalism grads Chris Shaw, held a Q&A session about freelance work after graduation, and encouraged us to sign up for JMU's Fellowship programme, which I'm considering taking on in addition to the WoW Star. Apparently they can be very helpful with finding jobs after university is finished as well as advising you along the way. And I could really use all the advice I can get right now.
After listening to keynote speaker David Parrish (creative industries consultant and author of T-Shirts & Suits), who spoke about intellectual property when marketing your work, and about what it means to be "creative" in any industry, which is not categorised just by the more artistic, bohemian end sector (T-shirts) and the more 'Wall Street' sector (suits). "Creativity is everywhere." Nicely said.
I caught up with the only journalist appearing at the event, Andy Johnson (Chief Creative Officer for Purple Revolver online magazine), who gave me his business card and explained that to write for the magazine, he would want me to find out the zeitgeist of media, what people want to read about. If I submit any of the articles I write to the magazine, I could get paid per page hit, and as a bonus, can continue sending in work even if I move away from Liverpool. Once this entry's finished I'm applying for the vacant postion of record reviewer, since I already do simiar work for Bido Lito!.
Later I also chased down a man carrying a picket sign and learned that there will be an organised protest against the city banks happening on Friday afternoon. So I'll have a news story for JMU Journalism next week :)
~ Lee
Monday, 14 February 2011
My Top 10 Ideas for Valentine's in Liverpool ♡
You can read it here.
Special credit is deserved for creating this page even though I abhor Valentine's Day for every possible reason except one: all the nice chocolate goes on sale the next day. I'm looking forward to that :)
Plus I may never forgive myself for actually having penned the phrase "Cupcakes: what sweeter way to say 'I love you'?"
Enjoy it anyway!
~ Lee
Special credit is deserved for creating this page even though I abhor Valentine's Day for every possible reason except one: all the nice chocolate goes on sale the next day. I'm looking forward to that :)
Plus I may never forgive myself for actually having penned the phrase "Cupcakes: what sweeter way to say 'I love you'?"
Enjoy it anyway!
~ Lee
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Finally submitting my article to Stylist
Below is my article, which is basically a study of Lady Gaga and trying to get to the core of why we've taken her into our hearts more so than any other artist out there. The conclusion is drawn from Gaga's own themes of love and fame, and how the two are not mutually exclusive.
I'll keep passing the story around, so if Stylist isn't interested (and they may not be; they ran an article on Gaga only last week), I'll find out if someone out there is.
Fame and love: Why do we love Lady Gaga so much?
The world has gone Gaga.
Everywhere you look, everywhere you listen, you encounter a sight and sound now so familiar they could have been there forever. This time two or three years ago, if somebody had spoken to you the phrase “cigarette glasses” or “meat dress”, most likely you would have done a double take. But now, chances are there are two words that will enter your head: Lady Gaga.
The 24-year-old artist formerly known as Stefani Germanotta has, in less than three short years, transformed pop music as we know it. And not just in the style of the music itself – her whole persona, her whole energy, is redefining music and fashion for a whole new generation. Each of her singles have rocketed to number one, and her latest release, “Born This Way”, reached number one on iTunes mere hours after Gaga shared it with the world on Friday.
So how, in such a short space of time, has the world embraced this unusual creature and looked to her as the oracle of pop culture?
Her catchy songs, including hits “Bad Romance” and “Poker Face”, may very well have held their own in the music market, but there’s no doubt that without Lady Gaga’s predictably unpredictable behaviour – such as pouring blood down herself and hanging “dead”, suspended 100 feet in the air at the 2009 VMAs – and her infamously spectacular wardrobe – including the aforementioned raw meat dress and glasses fashioned out of (lit) cigarettes – she would not be nearly as identifiable as she is today.
Her personality is injected into her accompanying music videos, which she transforms into works of art, encompassing the retro, the Space Age, the noir and the contemporary, with costumes created by her design team, Haus of Gaga. These videos were the first of any artist to collectively reach 1 billion views on YouTube.
In some ways, it’s rather like an alien has landed to Earth in out midst and we simply can’t ogle her enough; she lives among us, but she isn’t one of us. Her bizarre ensembles aren’t simply stage props – this woman goes to the grocery store in Alexander McQueen leather leotards and seven-inch heels.
To put it simply – Lady Gaga is a star: she gives us everything we demand from an entertainer, and then some. She sings. She dances. She writes. She plays. She dresses up. She puts on a captivating show. She lives her life every day as though she is always on the stage, because there is always a rapt audience.
And yet, for all this mind-blowing fame and other-worldliness, few stars can claim to have as much rapport with their fans as Gaga does. She is very honest about having strived for fame: whilst other musicians may put on a modest face and claim they don’t care about being rich and famous, they just want to share their music, Gaga has openly and unabashedly admitted that fame was her destination, and that there is nothing wrong with that. She has even spun a kind of philosophy out of it, her two existing albums being named The Fame and The Fame Monster, with the recurring theme of fame versus love. However, Gaga herself has transcended both.
Gaga knows that her fans – or her “Little Monsters” – are the pillars her fame is built on. She loves us. She thanks us constantly, and tearfully, for raising her to the top. She was the first person to reach 6 million fans on Twitter, and is now nearing 8 million. She has a large tattoo on her forearm dedicated to the fans: “little monsters forever, on the arm that holds my mic”, she tweeted on 2 February 2010.
Perhaps that is the master key to her fame and adoration: we know as we watch her performances, that this isn’t one-sided. She is not up there at a distance, but embracing us into the fame with her. When we listen to her music, we are soaking up a little bit of that fame and glamour. She loves us all, she is a freak and each and every one of us is a freak in one way or another. If one freak can rise to the top, we all can.
Millions upon millions of people around the world are Little Monsters. And we feel united in that, and loved.
Friday, 11 February 2011
A music PR company I contacted ages ago
still sends me promos for Beth Ditto, Jessie J, etc. How nice of them?
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
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