Cat On The Wall

This week I did an interview with Jo Whitby from the Music and Culture Webzine Cat On The Wall. Please check it out here.

Thank you
Fashion Fantasist xx

Happy New Year

And Happy Birthday to my blog! It has been a year since I started blogging as Fashion Fantasist and what a year it has been. I was not expecting this blog to turn out the way it has done. It started as a way to make a digital profile for myself and my designs but has turned in to a lot more.

I don't think any of the opportunities I have experienced this year would have happened without this blog. It has helped me meet new people, I have been invited to fashion shows and events, I have written for other blogs and online publications and of course it helped (with Twitter) towards getting an internship with French Connection.

Writing this blog has expanded my fashion horizons. If I have found a designer or piece of work I have found interesting or inspirational I have tried to make contact with the designer, which has been a very rewarding experience discovering other peoples inspirations and aspirations.

A highlight of this year for me was to go to London Fashion Week!! I only went the one day and saw one show but it was amazing. As you all know I didn't shut up about it for posts and posts. Thank you to Kirsty Ward and David Longshaw who gave me that opportunity it was amazing to meet you both and I wish you the best of luck in 2011. At LFW I also met the team behind the hugely successful Young British Designers who I had the pleasure of writing a guest blog post for. Wonderful people who I think are doing exciting things for young British designers.

One of the best and most challenging experience this year has got to be my final university collection. It was difficult to get in to the swing of things but through it I discovered a real interest in photographic and Trompe l'Oeil print techniques. I am currently trying to create some garments that I can market and sell... But look out 2011 for that. I also experienced a real passion for meeting new people whilst helping with the PR for our University fashion show. I created a twitter account and managed to get the most coverage our university shows have had. It was also very flattering to have my work featured in an online publication.

Going to shows to cover them as a journalist/blogger was something I was not expecting but it has been a real delight to do this for both Culture Candy and Guide2Bristol. Hopefully this will be something I will continue to do in 2011.

Working for French Connection as an intern was such an eyeopening experience. I learnt so much and met a lot of very friendly people. It started out as just photocopying and sticking together artworks but as I got to know people better I started to contribute more. This may seem like a small thing but in the 2011 a/w range there are bead combinations that I helped create and that is so exciting. I brushed up on my Photoshop skills and actually feel more confident on Illustrator. All in all it was fantastic - hard work but well worth it!!! (Thank you to Rachel again for the gig!)

All in All it has been a whirl wind of a year. 2010 has been hard work but I think 2011 will be even harder. I am going to be continuing to look for work, start creating more designs, keep working hard on this blog and keep talking to and meeting wonderful people. Of course like every new year my resolution will be to stop chewing my nails! Hehe!

Sorry I haven't done any images in this post I wasn't sure what to choose!!! But here are some gorgeous shoes I have my eye on...Finsk Boots....... Well I can dream - that is why I am a Fashion Fantasist! (They are also really lovely in black!)

I hope you all had great years and thank you for reading my blog, following and supporting it. Wishing you the best 2011!!!
Fashion Fantasist xxx

One Hundred

This is my 100th post!!! Gosh!!! I am going to be very selfish and have a blog post dedicated to myself... It was suggested to me that I do 100 posts that have changed me but I still have some posts that I am very excited about yet to go up so I think once my blog has turned one I will celebrate its loveliness!

For now I will share with you some general portfolio pages that I have pulled out... I apologise this will be a very image heavy post... Recently I have got very excited and inspired and have started to design again so hopefully when I have some money I will be able to make some new things to show you. But for the time being please feel free to browse and also you can head over to my website.Apologies again for the amount of scrolling down you may of had to do for this post but I hope some of the images have interested you. These projects are a mixture from my university BA and HND work. Since London Fashion Week I have felt really inspired and have picked up my pencil again and have started designing - I will hopefully start to make some samples soon too. I was inspired in particular by Kirsty Ward's womenswear collection and Georgia Hardinge's use of 3D and 2D... I will leave it there but will hopefully have something to show you in the near future.

Best Wishes
Fashion Fantasist xx

U.W.E Final Show

Well this was a pleasant surprise! Noticed on facebook one of my friends had posted this video. It is a back stage style video of our fashion show which was on the 22nd May. What makes it even nicer is that the music track is the tune I used for my collection when it came down the catwalk. Also there are some little snippets of my collection :) - can you spot them?



Enjoy Fashion Fantasist xxx

What's in a name?

Here is a rough idea of my line up for my collection.... Please help - any suggestions for a name for this collection I would greatly appreciate!? My original inspiration was Holkham Hall tapestries and I have gone on to explore illusion and depth through photographic prints. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Much Love Fashion Fantasist xx

Tapestry Waistcoat

Thank you to my Wonderful Mum for helping me out by hand stitching the tapestry panels of my waistcoat!!! An absolute star, hope I do them justice!! I designed them, hope you like! :)
Fashion Fantasist xx

half and half

Had a toile crit today, but as well as my toiles I bought a long a half scale version of my print. Personally really pleased with it, just hope the real ones come out ok... Fingers crossed!!!
Speak soon
Fashion Fantasist x

Prints

Thought I might share with you some more of my strange pattern pieces but with the prints on them....
Hope I am not giving too much away from the surprise of my collection...
Much love Fashion Fantasist xx

All in a row row row

Had a big sort out and tidy up of the flat today and I bought a rail for my toiles... So here they are all neat and tidy! :)
Much love Fashion Fantasist xx

Frilly Jelly

To make a pattern look like it is fluid and looks more like fabric I have been playing with good old Photoshop again!! Am trying to make prints look like they are 3D objects or garments in their own right... Hopefully these have succeeded.
Speak Soon Fashion Fantasist xxx

Photographs

Today have been learning different photographic techniques using Photoshop. :) It has been lots of fun!!
Fashion Fantasist xxx

Technologic

Well today I have been busy with design work but Mr Fashion Fantasist has been keeping himself amused with the works of Professor Brian Cox... I do not understand the science behind them but I could not help thinking how pretty the Proton Collisions were... This is not the first piece of technology that has caught my eye...Science Fiction - more importantly Star Trek is a small guilty pleasure of mine and a few projects a go I used Star Trek 'Borg' and the insides of my lap top as inspiration...




Don't judge me!! Live Long and Prosper Fashion Fantasist xxx (Photograph by Sol Stephens)

Jelly Print Onesie

I oddly like this design I have come up with but I am worried it is too boring...and a little random! But that is what I like, it is quirky strange but cute??! Thoughts?
Best Wishes
Fashion Fantasist xxx