Cheeky little Autumn Haul

I haven't had a huge amount of time to myself recently; but I managed to get myself to Bristol one afternoon for a cheeky little bit of shopping and to push my anxiety as part of my recovery. I almost get annoyed at myself for not going to Bristol more; Less than £5 return on the train and a wider variety of shops than Bath offers. Bath is brilliant for all the independent boutiques but Bristol is the king of the big high street names...A Primark that dreams are made of, a zara and all the stores I miss from Norwich. The anxiety part, well at the beginning of summer I felt to anxious to even walk down to my local shops on my own ( a 5 minute walk fyi), yet I managed to get the train and spend the afternoon mooching around Bristol on my own!

So here's what I picked up:

Pink angora Blend Jumper- £19.99 New Look

 I have been looking for a winter jumper for soooo long!! I'm quite fussy with my knitwear, have sensitive skin and hate cropped styles so shopping this season was a chore. I finally found this Pastel pink beauty in New Look and have lived in it since I bought it as it goes with everything!

 

Printed teadress - £8 Primark

Admittedly I went into Primark looking for silly Christmas presents and separates, I did achieve the silly presents but as always came out with dresses over tops and trousers. I couldn't resist the more autumnal print and the cute shape that shows off my figure whilst keeping me covered up. 

 

Teadress with cut out back - £5 Primark

I spotted this little beauty on the sale rail and for once they had it in my size! It's an empire line teadress with a cute little detail in the back, in a soft jersey fabric, and for a fiver it's an absolute bargin! I cannot wait to dress this up for winter date nights, and dress it down with cozy knits for days shopping & in the studio.

List book - £7.50 Paperchase

I can't find this online, but I'm absolutely in love with this current paperchase collection! I'm a little bit list obsessive so it satisfies my love of lists and florals, and technically it helps to keep me organised with my mountains of work!

Lula Magazine

Lula is by far one of my favourite high end fashion magazines; its so girly and whimsical, and one of the only fashion magazines that I really could connect with. Its kind of pricey, but its definitely worth a read if you ever have the money free.

Have any of you bought any cheeky things this autumn?

Keep warm lovelies

FFF

xox

Fashion is a cruel mistress

So despite my best intentions blogging has gone by the wayside a little :( It's not that I haven't had things I wanted to blog about, it purely became a time issue. As many of you will of read in previous posts my course is a little intense and I just haven't been able to take the time out to blog. Hopefully after christmas when the making side calms down, & my work is actually good enough to not need re-doing (whoops! Great start to the year!) I'll gradually be able to up the frequency that my posts go out.
But enough boring stuff; I'm really excited by my current project and just wanted to share little snippets about what I'm working on!

The Brief:
              We literally had to close our eyes and pick pieces of paper out of a hat; cue lots of dramatics when people discovered what they'd gotten. As a year group we don't tend to freak out about fabrics too much; but having the choice taken away from us, and having to use solely this fabric for our last make project before collections next year, made the fabrics mildly terrifying. I was lucky enough to get double faced; admittedly I didn't feel lucky at the time, I had no clue what it was other than it could be very pricey! I'll tell you later on when my opinion on the fabric changed.
     The aim was to use our selected fabrics to create experimental yet beautiful garments to couture standards; and this time we were expected to make more than one garment, a complete outfit was required. Most people are aiming for a top & trousers/skirt combination however I'm keen to try and get a jacket and a dress made in the time allowed. To help us think in couture and show terms a bit more we have also been asked to design the full 35 look collection, which can use a combination of fabrics, however the outfit we chose to make must be made entirely from the set fabric! Daunting!


So what is double faced?
Well, its basically any fabric that has 2 right sides....which sounds a million times less terrifying!! On my trips to London & local fabric shops I managed to collect such a variety of samples that I stopped freaking out about being limited by my fabrics, as double faced comes in all shapes and forms. I have to admit I 2 have to strong favourites fabric wise at the moment; a gorgeous double faced woven fabric from stock rolls at uni that's monochromatic and features herringbone on one side and houndstooth on the other, and weirdly enough neoprene style fabrics again monochromatic with white on one side and black on the other.

My Muse:
As its couture the aim is to have to specific client in mind, and I couldn't think of anyone more inspiring than the beautiful Isabella Blow. Despite her tragic death a few years ago she was an influential woman in fashion, and she fits the kind of pieces I wanted to make for this project.

Bit of a wordy post; but I'll try and keep you guys updated with how it all goes!

FFF

xox

OOTD- Little Tartan Dress

So I should really be sick of anything that even slightly resembles gingham due to my current uni projects; however whilst on a trip to Bristol to get fabrics I had a quick dash into Primark and spotted the cutest little Tartan dress and just had to treat myself. I was really worried about looking too school girly, as I dont really ever wear anything that's high necked or has a collar so I toughened it up with my ankle boots and leather jacket. I apologise for the photo quality, these were taken when it was getting dark and I live in a basement flat so not ideal for outfit photos!

Dress - Primark

Belt - Primark

Tights - Tesco (surprisingly good!!)

Jacket - Topshop

Boots - H&M

Hope you are all keeping warm and cosy during this spell of frankly quite horrid weather!! I got rained on before I took these photo's, hence the wet leather jacket :( 

FFF

xox

Summer Sketchbook

So although this project didn't actually get finished, much to my dismay, I really enjoyed creating the initial concept sketchbook; so I thought I'd share some pages with you.
My initial inspiration came from a local beach town, Cromer, I'd planned the visit as part of research into my initial theme 'Never Let Me Go'; however when the day came I'd been to the doctors in the morning to get help for my anxiety (something I will blog about when I feel the time is right) & was feeling very uninspired and low.
Luckily for me, as soon as I was on my way, things seemed a little bit brighter. I managed to get chatted up whilst waiting for my train, which realistically was awkward, especially when I kept mentioning my Boyfriend and this guy wasn't giving up, but it just gave me a bit of a confidence boost. By the time I reached the seaside the sun was shining and after a 5 minute walk from the train to the beach I was feeling better. As I was growing up I think I underestimated the calming and comforting effect the sea has on me; I just felt so calm and more like myself than I had in months so I scrapped my initial research plan, whipped off my tights(probably flashing half the beach in the process!), found a rock for my bag and coat, and paddled out into the shallows with my camera snapping as I went. The spontaneity and affect on my mood made me realized that this was how my inspiration should feel and my initial sketchbook for the first time in years was more of an artistic response. So here it is!

I'm open to any feedback, and opinions on my work, & hopefully will be able to share more and more of my work with you throughout the year.

Love

fff

xox

Life Update

Things have gone a bit quiet recently, mainly due to starting my second year at university and moving into a new place. Finally all settled into my new flat, with internet and bills all set up, and homely touches added its really starting to feel a bit more like a home. As well as moving back I also went to the Mcfly 10th Anniversary concert at the Royal Hall; now some of you may turn your noses up at that, but the boys were influential in my teen years and they always put on an amazing show. The surprise of Busted joining them on stage definitely made the night, and even reduced my friend to tears!

Starting back at uni I was straight in at the deep in, beginning a drape project the first full day back. So far I'm really enjoying it, and slowly beginning to get my head round the new techniques. Been able to have a few nights out with all the girls from last year, and it barely seems like we were apart over summer! 

Replicating a drape from a photo on the first day of draping.

Sorry the posts may be a little sporadic now as I get back into the swing of things; I'm trying to be more disciplined this year with my work to allow me more time to relax, blog and visit my boy.

Hope you all had good starts to your academic years!

Love

fff xox