cheeky

The Butcher and The Crow

Last week, for tafe we were asked to interview a designer, so Chenoah and I interviewed Elisha from "The Butcher and The Crow" http://www.thebutcherandthecrow.com/. The philosophy for Elisha's brand is that every garment is hand made in Western Australia, She embraces traditional construction and art techniques to design and create soft draping beautiful garments. So here is a little insight into her creative mind :)

When did you first want to be in the industry?

probably at the age of 14. i have a distinct memory of being in art class an knowing thats what i wanted to do - make clothes. however the plan didn't really come into fruition until 11 years later. after studying art and then moving into fashion.

How would you describe your signature style?

unexpectedly feminine, an appreciation for the hand made and its processes. 

What is important to me is that my label carries a sense of uniqueness. that it is not mass produced fast fashion. the items are carefully hand dyed rendering each one unique.

Does anyone inspire you? How?

Theres lots of people that i take inspiration from. artist like Lee Ufan for his quite simplicity. 

designers like damir doma for use of  fabrics, falls, layering and drapes on the male form.

designer Jun Watanabe for his organic tailoring and colour pallet.

textile artist Shindo Hiroyuki for his exquisite application of indigo dyes.

alot of people inspire me for different reasons.

What is your creative process? How do you get your initial ideas?

what i have recently noticed it that alot of my influence for my colour pallet comes from travel. my new collection The walk to hanging rock is reference to the dark rusting of oranges from australian landscape. Looking back, a trip to the  a kimberlys a year earlier had sparked a piont of inspiredfor this collection.

I generally start with a colour pallet that i decide on through story booking. then start sketching and toiling. here, this is where a lot of the refining process happens for the silhouette and drape of the garment. 

then after a lot of tweeking a collection will start to appear.

Do you visualise eventually branching into an international market?

yes, eventually. for now though after completing my post graduate studies last year i am happy to let the label grow step by step.

What are you plans for your brand in the next few years?

To eventually branch out into an international market. start exploring options to have my dyeing done by dye masters in india and grow the collection to a larger body of work.

Showy

This is my other lady wearing the showstopper piece. I created her by doing a live trace on a original drawing and then altering the original image

Sassy

Just drew this little lady up in illustrator using a few different images placed ontop of each other

Street Style

photos courtesy of streetpeeper.com , thelocals.dk , and sydneystreetstyle.com

The Logies

Yep on Sunday the 15th of April it was Australian televisions night of nights, "The Logies".

Usually I find the Logies a little too trashy for my liking, what with all the "home and away", and "Neighbours" stars. Regardless I tuned in to watch last night and I was pleasantly surprised by the red carpet looks, as well as the brilliant hosts. Hamish Blake took home the gold logie, while the ABC raked in the awards taking home one third out of the 23. Adam Hills, Hugh Sheridan and Asher Keddie were also among the winners. 

But now, onto the important stuff, The Red Carpet! There were three women who absolutely blew me away with their impeccable fashion choices, Have a look for yourselves...

1. Asher Keddie in J'aton 

2. Samara Weaving in Steven Khalil

3. Magdalena Roze in Ae'lkemi

Marie Antoinette

This is my contemporary interpretation of a fashion plate. Does it make you want to buy it?

"Clair De Lune"

Absolute perfection

The Artist

Tonight I skipped along to the Moonlight Cinema in Kings Park to see "The Artist". The atmosphere at this cinema is enough to blow you away, lying underneath the stars with the slight breeze blowing in from the river. It's absolutely breathtaking without adding to the mix an Academy Award winning silent black and white film. 

For those of you who have been living under a rock, "The Artist" follows George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a silent movie actor who is struggling with the development of talking films. The focus is on his life and relationship with a rising talking actress Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo). The Artist has had wide spread critical acclaim for its revival of the silent eras elegance and charm. It is an unlikely feel good movie and WOW was I ever captured by those actors smiles. It was so refreshing to see genuine pleasure, innocence and wit all embroiled in one. 

For those who have not yet cast their eyes upon this masterpiece, I highly recommend gathering a picnic and taking a trip to your nearest outdoor cinema to watch it. It is definitely a sight to be seen. In fact I would even award it 5 whole stars. 

Eco Chic

At Tafe we've been working on our eco-chicness. So that meant hitting up the salvos $1 sale rack, picking up a few bargains, ripping them apart and making some semblance of an outfit.

I was paired with Chenoah,  and although we often have differing opinions and tastes we worked together remarkably well and came up with a pretty great outfit, even if I do say so myself. Just a pre-warning; this outfit belongs in the 80s

Okay so realistically its kind of hideous... but I think that gives it charm... doesn't it?? We made the skirt out of a shirt (winning!), and simply buttoned it up. Then we placed a lovely belt from another skirt under the collar and around the waist. Chenoah and I then used a sheer scarf to create a draped top. To complete the whole look we made up a bow out of the sleeves of a jacket and attached it to the top for that little extra Oomph!

All in all, not too shabby!

A Stella Career

Lets play "Who am I?"!  I am the daughter of a knighted bass player, I am a well known Fashion Designer, I am an animal rights activist with strong ties to PETA..... That's right! I'm Stella McCartney.

 Stella has built herself a reputation in the fashion industry as a woman who refuses to use fur or leather in her designs and will always endeavor to use the environmentally friendly options when designing. Stella Studied at Central St Martins in London graduating in 1995. She created quite a stir with her graduating show using supermodels Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss as models. Only 2 years after she graduated, Stella was appointed the Creative Director at Chloé. In 2001 she launched her own label "Stella McCartney" With the Gucci Group.

Stella has had the privilege of working on a number of collaborations with brands such as Adidas, Bendon, H & M, Disney, Lesportsac and Target. The Film "Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow" also featured costumes entirely designed by Stella. Finally Stella was given the opportunity to design the athletes uniforms for the British team for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

Being an avid Animal and environmental activist the Stella McCartney brand supports many charities such as PETA. Her contribution to the issue of climate change is extremely noticeable in the management of her business. All stores are powered by ecotricity which invests customers money on clean power. Stella has also designed a number of eco-friendly ranges including lingerie, sunnies and fragrances.

Thats Fadtastic!!

Yes, I just said "fadtastic", and yes I know that it is cheesy to the max. Well don't worry your pretty little head , it's probably just a fad. and fads are just a passing phase. For the sake of an analogy, Fads could be likened to riding a trolley down a hill. It seemed like a good idea at the time but then you realise you were seriously deranged in thinking so. Here is a great eggsample (see what I did there?) ....

Crocs were a fad, and thank God they were because they are absolutely hideous.

If you're a little bit more sensible, but still with a flair for a little risk, then you're probably right on trend. Trends often flit in and out with the seasons but occasionally we get a good one which will last a little longer and eventually outstay their welcome. Lookie Loo!

Yes I know... Pastels. They indeed are a trend which seem to rotate in a biannual cycle. Every second spring they're back with a vengeance, but since they make you feel all pretty and bubbly inside we don't really mind do we.

Finally the ultimate fashion tool, the classic. It is a little like Love, and true love lasts a lifetime. My dad always tells me that you should not love inanimate objects such as a bed, but sometimes I can't help myself. What do I love you ask? 

WELL... Think the Little Black Dress, White Shirt, Pencil Skirts, Jeans, and Trench Coats. I could go on forever really. I just have so much love to give.

Plates and Mags

To be honest I thought a fashion plate was a lovely plate with a pretty picture on it. Obviously I was wrong, how could I have been so logical! As it turns out a fashion plate is actually an illustration which shows how a garment will look to customers. Needless to say they weren't completed on any ceramic crockery... However, They were often included in the early fashion magazines, which depicted the latest fashion trends. "The Lady's Magazine" was one of the first of these magazines to include fashion plates in a publication. Current examples of fashion plates are often seen as interpretations of garments on sewing patterns

Magazines have developed extensively since "The Lady's Magazine". An early such example is "The Delineator" which was first published in 1873 and included Butterick Patterns for home use and provided an in-depth analysis of current fashion trends. This format of magazines has been a steadfast mould, even for the fashion magazines of today, such as "Harpers Bazaar"(first published in 1867), Vogue (1892), Vanity Fair (1983) and Cosmopolitan (1886). Heres a few examples of some heritage and modern magazine covers...

OMG look a zine!

I only ever really knew a zine as an adorable mini magazine, I have never thought beyond that. If it hadn't been for this assignment, I doubt I ever would have. But that's the thing about learning, it opens your eyes to new and wonderful things... like zines

According to Wikipedia which we all know is a extremely reliable source, a zine is a publication which has a circulation of less than 5000 copies. The target market varies but a variable range of subjects have been covered including fashion, politics, personal journals etc. Zines originated during the 18th century, although the actual name "zine" is believed to have come about during the 1970s as an abbreviation of the word magazine.

Since the increase in popularity of the internet during the 90s, zines have faded into the background and left trailing behind blogging. Presently, there are few distributors of zines in comparison to the pre-internet age. However one dedicated Melbourne zinestore, "Sticky Institution" is powering through the tough times. I'm sad to say though that they are one of few.

All this research has definitely fuelled a new obsession for zines, Melbourne here I come!

Who's trendy?

Do you like bandwagons? Do you often jump on and off them? Do you like to chase after the most popular bandwagon? Then I guess you're probably jumping on these bandwagons, and if you haven't already then surely you will be chasing that bandwagon furiously down the street after reading this. So here are the top 10 trends (for life) of the moment... in no particular order.

Une... Instagram

It seems like everyone now has an iPhone, and if you do, then I'm sure you'll have Instagram hanging out on there. You can make any ordinary photo, look very, very extraordinary.

Deux... the 20s

With the release of  "the Great Gatsby"  looming,  Ralph Lauren and Gucci among others, are all taking a step back in time to when beading, silks and tassles were all in abundance.

 Trois... Aquatic prints

It's like finding nemo for fashion! Versace, Pleasure State and Chanel were all on the lookout.

Quatre... Fixies

Yup retro bikes are making a massive comeback. Jump on it.

Cinq... Care for a peplum?

Vera Wang, Alexander McQueen and Christian Dior reinvigorated the peplum and so we loyally followed like sheep.

Six... Bra, bold and beautiful

The crop top is still in, but now it's even "croppier" so you're basically walking round in a bra. But it's pretty, so who cares, Dolce & Gabbana and Prada definitely don't.

Sept... Beautiful books.

Penguin publishing started the trend by releasing cloth bound classics designed by Corali Bickford-Smith. Barnes & Noble has followed suit by releasing a range of leather bound classics. They are to die for!

Huit... Eco Chic

These days everything is about saving the planet, and I am all for it. To really get into this trend make sure you invest in an Eco Cup, ride your fixie round rather than driving, wear pure natural fibres and only buy organic darling.

Neuf... Craft Corner

Break out all your glitter, scissors and paint, it's time to get crafty. That's right, DIY's are seriously in! Hit up an op shop and buy something absolutely hideous so that you can rip it apart and bedazzle it.

Dix... Blogging

Everyone wants to be heard, and blogging is an amazing way to send all those creative juices out into the blogosphere, where hopefully someone will stumble upon your musings and agree with you. Who knows who could be reading..