Monday 31 May 2010

heavy metal

Saturday = SATC2. I have thoughts; I have blog post ideas a-plenty, but I'll save 'em up, ey? Enjoy a lil' outfit post for now.
New acquisitions below - skirt (ebay); cardi (thrifted); ring (ebay)...

all saints cardi (thrifted!)//tee from...i don't remember. the internet.//ebayed skirt//asos boots//topshop socks+necklace//H&M necklace


The claw ring.
I loveLOVE it, but it's massive (even though it's a small) so I need to wear it on that finger with a smaller ring in front to stop it falling off. Course the smaller ring is too small...
Typical.

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Sunday 30 May 2010

northumbria 2010; part six - it's all in the details

Last one!
Awesome details; accessories; bits and pieces; gaga-tastic collections....

Amy Hutchinson

OK, so, I only took a couple of photos of this one (I think it was in the part where my camera memory got full so I was speed-deleting as many as possible), but FOAMY SQUARE THINGS. It is all in the details; check out the customised shoes and bag...

Kate Rostron
Bejewelled motorcycle helmets, spiky shoes, flouncy shapes; ouioui?

Cindy Poon
Lace face masks....hmm.
Black and brown and lace and frills and panels and stuff.

Julie Perry

I did mention, ages ago (months infact), one of the 4th years using meccano - this would be her. While it was quite the spectacle, and of course, very interesting; the foundation pieces themselves are a little flat, IMO...
The third look; with less meccano; is more of a fully formed look, and interesting, where the first two are like "yeah, interesting" but the pieces themselves are a bit done.

Emma Tang

Emma had THE BEST accessories, although the ones I saw her make which I loved didn't end up walking down the catwalk, which is sad - they were clear plastic thigh high 'stripper' boots, with a clear platform and heel, which she cut down to ankle boots and attached jewels to, like the plastic goggles in the 3rd pic...which you can't really see but whatever. Gold nuts and bolts and purple and green beads. Lots of perspex and lots of pieces of jewellery/customised science goggles/etc.
Seriously though, Emma, if you read this and those shoes are a size 5...yknow. Or at least lemme know where you got the boots in the first place!
The clothes themselves, I wasn't a big fan of, but I did love the jewel tones. It's flower-esque embellishments on the furry cape that turned me off, but there was plenty of interest (There's a cute jewel-toned playsuit under said cape that you can't see, which is sad, but I believe the styling was switched up later in the day so it could be seen; cos it was the most 'worked' piece with lots of interesting details on it...)

Kathryn Pearon

I have no idea how she made the structured, textured pieces (looks like lots of ribbon all tied and stitched together? idk.), but they were SO interesting, and such a nice colour palette; if again a little 'spectacle' as opposed to 'saleable'. My mission for next year is to tread that line perfectly....good luck with that, jenn.

Linda Syo-kau Mutunga

Although, saying that, this one does pretty well - the wicker baskets/hats give 'editorial' interest, but the clothes themselves - espesh the third look - are wearable and cool, with a Vivienne Westwood kinda feel/twist. Interesting colour palette, too. Muted but colourful...

Hannah Casen Seawright
The next two were among my favourites - Here, Hannah's has a cool colour palette, Miu Miu-esque heel shapes, a country feel (hey tweed!), interesting details (can you see the fabric buttons on the trousers? Cute. And the first jumper with an open back!) AND cute accessories. Love the little square bag/case in the first look.

Amelia Chester

Checklist:
Leather accents. Florals that aren't too girly. Muted but varied colour palette. Sheer. Shearling. Layers. Headscarves. Great styling.

Accessories and details?

Oh my, yes.

Can we talk about the hair?


Hey hair; please grow. I want to do side-plaits and top knots.

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Saturday 29 May 2010

northumbria 2010; part five - form and structure

Hrrrrrnk.
Womenswear! (Part One...)

Kate Johnson


Circus themed; can you tell? I still want those stripy Topshop tights. Love the third look - stripy corset+peachy sheer...

Kate Black

Lots of sheer boned sculptural bits and bobs...
Cream and red is such a lovely colour palette. Love the red seams and zips on the cream pieces, and vice-versa.

Naomi New

Gaga-rific; fringes, studs, hair and leather...

Anna Young

More sheer, frilly, girly-ness, but in deep blue shades...

Charlotte Boden

Bright prints, sheer, unisex. One of the more successful collections, non?

Cristina Dobrean


aka Bailey's 4th year.
Structural and sheer, all in black, with red and silver accents...

Stephanie Jayne Price


This was pretty cool - the 1st and 3rd looks had LED lights in them (the bags acted as the battery packs), but they didn't turn the lights down (as Stephanie had asked!) so you couldn't really see them.
Also, I love the nude shoes that everyone was using...

Gemma Williamson

I felt this was a little hit and miss (sorry, not a fan of the red...thing, nor the overdecorated blue coat...) but some of these worked wonderfully - the stained glass window print on simpler pieces like the mini dress and long skirt worked wonderfully, as did the white, almost burke-esque jacket/cardi.

Victoria Kirby

Stunning.
Of course she's going to GFW.
The most amazing part is that the dresses (I'm assuming #2&3) are one pattern piece... and have you ever seen crushed velvet used like that?

Samantha Probert


One of my favourites, in that it struck the right balance (for a student's final collection) between wearable and spectacle. Of course, military inspired, it's the unusual details like the braided cage piece over the sheer dress and body that make it stand out, but the colour palette was gorgeous too, as was the ruffle-y coat. And it was so well made! Kudos.

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Friday 28 May 2010

northumbria 2010; part four - boys, boys, boys

A bit of a departure for this blog now....menswear!

Amy Churchill

That last tshirt is padded; it's pretty cool, if a bit odd.
The, err, perk(?) of menswear is that we (we being 'my' band of raggedy alcoholics who end up at theCut every week) have a friend (and by friend I mean person we kinda know from out and about) modelling this year. Which is a source of amusement, of course. Kurt would be the one in aforementioned padded tee.

Caroline Rowland
Love the pops of yellow.

Fiona Macaulay

Natassja Kirk

Two words: pimp. stick.
Loved this one - but then, I'm a sucker for a dandy.

Stacey Beggs

Some nice cuts here.

Sian Catherine Griffiths


I only got a couple of shots of this one, but I loved the little details. The pleated(Y) gunflaps on the trench, for example.
I think this bag is also from her collection...either way it's awesome.



Louise Dickinson

The traveller/map/ethnic theme was so strong and clear here (we had a chat with some 4th years, so I've seen some of their sketchbooks and stuff...). Loved the oversized shirt&jacket shapes, and, of course, the map print.
Louise was Bryony's 4th year; and Bryony made the bag all by her onesies...
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Thursday 27 May 2010

northumbria 2010; part three - print & textiles

A bunch of print collections now.
Some of the womens, and indeed mens colletions had loads of printwork (which was a bit of a first, cos usually the print room is full of print students, but this year they did a lot of digital print so there was more room for everyone! How exciting.), but these are the specifically print students. Usually their collections are simpler shapes with bright and often complicated prints - I guess everyone is '
breaking the rules' this year...

Sophie Dee

SO CUTE. A balloon as a prop? Yesyes. A hint of Prada in that first look; loved the collar/print combo in the second.

Jenny Laura Briggs



Vidi the ruffle-y shoulder thing. Big fan. Dark prints are kinda unusual, no?

Ludmila Maida

This is pretty close to what I expect of a print collection - but with gorgeous structural details like the plaited neck pieces, and the colour mixes are pretty interesting.

Faye Chamberlain

Again with the wonderful bright colours, this time with structures and sequins/shiny bits to highlight certain sections. I really wish these photos had turned out better cos the colours in this were so beautiful and bright...

Angharad Griffiths


Matching shoooooes!

Cherry Kathryn Cumberland

Sparklessss!

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Wednesday 26 May 2010

northumbria 2010; part two - knit one, pearl one

Alright, alright, I got around to it, simmer down.
There's usually only a couple of knitwear folks in every year (we have 2? 3? Not many.) but this year there were 9 graduating knit kids and the standard of their work set the bar pretty high.
Lots of soft shades and slouchy shapes, and lots of pieces that I felt I could've picked off the models, put on, and wandered off. So easy to wear yet 'different'. Yeah?

I don't have a lot to say on these, so just....enjoy the pics. They speak for themselves, non?

Rachael Hewson




Rebecca Morgan


Great shoe customising here: I think she knitted 'boot covers' to accompany the clothes; you can see below...


Jemma Page


The blue dress (look 3) was absolutely stunning; pretty sure I gasped when it came round the corner. It falls in such a stunning way, and the colour and weave/gauge of the knit were perfect.

Lois Burn

Another pitch-perfect collection in terms of shape and colour. So now.

Jane Robertson

Some great shapes here which you can't really see because; and I can't stress this enough, graduates*; black doesn't photog well!

*like, sure, profesh cameras and such; black is just fine if you're a designer whose going to get profesh coverage. But if you're doing anything where it's likely there will be amateur photography but also press opportunity - bloggers and such - you really need to consider how well it can be photographed.

Tunmike Lanade


Rosie Sugden


Knitted lingerie! Fabulous.

Ledina Zhang


This was the closest to the 'typical student knitwear', which is often a little brash and bright, and unsophisticated. That sounds like I'm trashing it, but my no. It's the closest merely because it's using such bright dashes of pink, yellow and purple, but they're only flashes and the styling and shades of grey (HEY IT'S A NEUTRAL WHICH IS TOTALLY EASY TO SEE!) tone it down and make it wearable and 'chic' (I hate that word.) but keep the fun knitwear is oft associated with.

Sophie Smith

An air of Mark Fast in the second look, with the body contouring lines; but what stands out here is the sheer knit (!!), which works to great effect in the body when mixed with the burgundy shade...

Also, Yasi off of this post has made it to GFW, so if you'll happen upon the Northumbria show (I might be going, we'll see, we'll see.) watch out for my her handiwork! Guess it means I'll be off into uni to help out sometime this week...

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