Charlie Boots

Sleek, stylish garments with a conscience, Charlie Boots produces a feminine, flattering and versatile range of ethical clothing. The clothing is designed with timelessness and versatility in mind to prevent the season by season throw away fashion trends. She uses organic, environmentally friendly, fair trade and vintage fabrics and will only make ten items per design. Her pieces are designed to be classic pieces that can be treasured through out the seasons and are sometimes reversible to create the maximum wear from a garment. To see some of her inspiration go to the web page.
'Charlie Boots is about creating very high quality, timeless, design-led wardrobe staples that have a clean conscience. I live my life by treating others how I would like to be treated myself and this naturally extends into my business. I am genuine, honest and fully aware of the responsibilities and any impact this may have on others.'
'I use idiosyncratic pattern cutting and finishing techniques that I discover in my design exploration. These give details to a garment that you will not find elsewhere. If you add to this the vintage fabrics and a limit of ten items per design, it is not an empty claim when I say these garments are genuinely unique.'The fashion industry can unfortunately be very unethical with sweat shops, child labour, chemical use and carbon emissions... Usually kept on the Q.T. Charlie Harrison, the creator of Charlie Boots, knows where her garments come from. All manufacture is done in the UK and although this is expensive she knows every person who has a hand producing the garments and they work in a happy, safe environment and get paid fairly for the work that they do. She also supports local artisans and does not use factories. This also adds to Charlie Boots uniqueness. To see more about the ethics of the company go here!I think this is a really refreshing attitude and a stylish, sleek collection if you are at 'Vintage at Goodwood' this weekend (13th-15th) look out for Charlie Boots!!! Also for all those tweeters Charlie has a Twitter account.

Speak Soon
Fashion Fantasist xx

Clogs Vs Cobbles

Welllll when Clogs first came back on the fashion scene I was very anti clogs. I think is the chunkiness of them with an open back - dislike. But I hate to say it - I have found a pair that I adore and now own! They are a lace up pair from Miss Selfridge. Just adore them, they look amazing with a pair of trousers I bought from Zara. However it seems that as much as I aesthetically love them they are hell to walk in!! I am ok on smooth flat surfaces - say indoors. But outside......



I wanted to show them off to Mr Fashion Fantasist so I wore them recently to the Harbourside Festival.... BIG mistake!!! The shape of clogs means that the 'wooden' sole is curved so I kept falling off balance especially on all of Bristol's cobbley streets. So Mr FF frightened that I was going to snap my ankles and irritated that we were walking the speed to snails bought me some lovely, flat, white tennis shoes from Primark (£2).

After that we both enjoyed the day a lot more! I am still trying to persevere with the clogs because they go with a lot in my wardrobe, but I think I will find that I will walk everywhere in my white pumps and once I get there I will sit with my lovely clogs on!

Has anyone else a fashion disaster or funny story? Do share and I might not feel so silly!

Best Wishes Fashion Fantasist xx

Charlotte Taylor

Recently I did a guest blog post for Young British Designers on Olivia Rubin (see here!!!) Well in return I was sent by the lovely Debra from YBD a Charlotte Taylor scarf from her A/W10 collection. I am in love with it!! I also adore the rest of the collection - in particular the outfit on the postcard!! Charlotte Taylor has just been announced as one of Vauxhall Fashion Scouts One to Watch! Soooo watch this space...

The inspiration of her A/W10 collection is an eclectic mix of trashy grannies, penguins, old soap operas, movies and the eccentric within. It is a very bold, bright and elegant collection with interesting lines and seaming and a quirky penguin print. Charlotte Taylor is a Central Saint Martins graduate and has previously worked with Luella - a designer I might add that I also admire. I asked Charlotte what her next collection will bring...
'S/S11 sees Charlotte's inspirations transgress into another weird and wonderful combination. Vintage Robots, Sail making, and copper and rust provide the catalyst for Charlotte's second collection. Expect unusual fabric combinations and heaps of colour. It's quirky, British, elegant and most importantly it's fun.'

I think this is why I am so drawn to Charlotte's work, I really enjoy quirky British-ness and the unexpected in fashion. It is what I tried to draw on when designing my BA final collection.

I also asked Charlotte how she starts to design a collection.
'I always pick 3 topics and research them into the ground. They are then pinned to giant boards and placed around the studio. I then sit and draw and draw and draw. Don't ask me how I come up with the themes it just kinda comes to me over the months leading up to it...'

I would love to be able to see her studio space. I can imagine it is fascinating with those large boards of inspiration all over.

I am really looking forward to the new collection! Roll on S/S11 collections Please!!!

Photographs of Charlotte's collection have come from her blog. Photographer is Claire Pepper, Stylist is Ellie Cumming, Hair and make-up by Camilla Hewitt and Model Rachel Cockerell at Models 1

Best Wishes
Fashion Fantasist xx

ps Thank you Debra for the lovely scarf etc! :) x

Escaping Emily

I came across David Longshaw's debut London Fashion Week collection on the Young British Designers Facebook Page. The colours - muted blues, yellows and greys contrasted with black and royal blue with interesting sculpted shapes and sketchy prints are what drew my eye to this collection. What I really love is that there is a story behind the collection. David Longshaw not only has a natural talent for fashion but also illustration (he won the Colin Barnes drawing prize 2005) and he has also contributed to a number of publications and uses his illustrations and story writing as a starting point for his collections.

So here is the tale of an abandoned puppet, rediscovered by a rather disturbed fashion designer named Emily...

Emily, the disturbed individual in question, has moved to San Giovanni in Marignano, a picturesque Italian village, a few miles from the seaside resort of Cattolica. Despite the charm of the Italian village, Emily became home-sick. That is, until one night, whilst rearranging her apartment in an attempt to distract herself, she discovered a peculiarly proportioned puppet (dressed in a floral t-shirt and high waisted trousers with exaggerated pockets) slouched in a wicker basket under a puzzling avalanche of watch and clock parts and a book of pressed flowers. Charmed by her discovery, Emily began to tell the puppet tales from home. The tales became ever more wild as did Emily’s re-enactments of scenes from her past using the puppet. Soon it was thread bare and badly damaged. Left with little choice, the puppet tried to make armour for itself from whatever it could get it’s paws on. But ultimately what it had to do, was Escape Emily. To read the rest of this tale with the illustrations head here.
David has a BA (Hons) from Saint Martins and an MA from the Royal College of Art. After graduating in 2007 David received a flurry of press and nominations for International Awards (ITS6,Trieste, Le Vif Weekend, Belgium, Cove Park, Scotland) and had secured a position at Alberta Ferretti before his final graduate collection was even shown. Although very keen to launch his own label he felt it was important to gain more internationally commercial experience, so went on to work for Max Mara. Now concentrating on his own label, he continues to consult for International fashion houses.

But as well as the talented David have you met Maude?! Maude 'is a fictional FASHION fabric mouse I CREATED AT sT mARTINS- USING cASHMERE GIVEN TO ME BY rICHARD jAMES OF sAVILE rOW' She has interviewed the likes of Julie Verhoeven and Holly Fulton and is well worth a read!!

Speak Soon
Fashion Fantasist xx

GFW Spotlight - Edinburgh College of Art - Louise Holsgrove

Now can I remind you of this cosy collection from Louise Holsgrove from The Edinburgh College of Art GFW show? Checks, furs, velvets and graphic prints made for a beautiful outdoorsey collection. I managed to get in contact with Louise to find out her inspiration and how she found the whole Graduate Fashion Experience. She sent me an array of illustrations and stunning drawn print designs along with photographs of the collection, which I am pleased to share with you!
Graduate Fashion Week has been a great experience - lots of positive feedback and exciting offers as well as some lovely coverage on the Internet - Susie Bubble included! Oh and my photograph on Vogue.. which was weird since I had no make-up on shoes on. Hmm.. While I was down there I really enjoyed seeing what other Graduates had produced - There was a really strong and diverse range of collections and work on the stands.. and I thought some of the music this year was pretty cool. I adore this outfit, the trousers are wonderful! I think the prints are also magical. Looking at them you spot something new every time. I particularly like the coloured print, can you spot the little red houses and boats on the water?My main inspiration comes from simply drawing. I am a keen illustrator and my prints are all completely hand-drawn. I am interested in the concept of Folk and Outsider Art - untaught, uncontrived or spontaneous doodling. I found that through covering garments in the busy, intricate doodles and scribbles I constantly create, I was able to produce a highly personal, unconventional collection. The twist I gave typical outdoor clothing exposed an underlying need for femininity while accommodating the nonchalance and disregard of 90s grunge. (I have a preoccupation with all things adolescent and wardrobe of relaxed, over sized layers.) The bright acid prints of this metropolis I somehow dreamt up made it quite different. Odd. I liked being able to combine my love for illustrating with the garments. As you can see she is a wonderful illustrator as well as a talented designer. I will keeping my eye open for anything Louise may produce in the future!
Best Wishes
Fashion Fantasist xx

U Old Bag!

I love my jaunts on the Internet and finding something that is unique. I cam across UOldBag! on Bouf.com. Lisa Tilley develops new products that are fashionable from unused vintage materials. The simplicity and vintage charm are what caught my eye.
Old bags in particular are given a revamp using vintage materials, illustrations, and photographs. Some include imagery that has been painstakingly cut out and applied using the art of decoupage, others have hand embroidery that has been carefully sewn over beautiful and delicate crochet patterned paper. All of the materials have had their own previous life - magazines, newspapers and retro home furnishings. Even tea cosies featuring animals such as Ginger Cats have been transformed into quirky evening clutch bags.

Lisa Tilley is a trained textile designer who completed her BA (Hons) at The Nottingham Trent School of Art and Design. Lisa won several awards including the Bradford Textile Society Competition. As a result of this prize she was awarded a trip to Premiere Vision 2005 by the Director Jacque Brunnel, where she was later invited to work in Paris for a woven fashion fabric house designing fabrics for the couture market. Lisa Tilley also lectures Textiles at various UK based colleges and schools and runs private weaving and design workshops.


I really like her ethos of vintage and reused items being utilised into new products. This also means that every item is unique, which I think makes them more special.

UOldBag!'s products are currently stocked within Paul Smith stores internationally and were featured there for Milan and Paris fashion week 2010. They also show at fairs such as 'Origin' London and 'MADE' Brighton.

Enjoy,
FashionFantasist xx

Olivia Rubin for Young British Designers

I find Olivia Rubin's work so much fun and I was delighted when I was asked by Young British Designers to write a piece on her!

'Young British Designers launches September. We have set it up to provide a world stage for all the astonishingly brilliant young fashion talent that exists in our country today.

We don't want to only promote the creations (clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery etc) but also the people behind them. The site will be as much about the designers, who they are, what inspires them..and, importantly, how wearing their designs makes someone feel (this emotional connection is often lost in retail translation).

We have a mix of brand new, never seen before designers and some in their third or fourth seasons. All up and coming, all very talented. For our launch we have around 38 designers joining us.

We will always be on the lookout for new talent, always try and help in any way we can.

YBD will provide a global focus for, and a place to buy the very best of young British fashion so that designers can have the very best chance of growing their brands.' (Debra from YBD)

Please stop by their blog and the post would love to hear what you think :) I am really looking forward to their website being up and running!

Speak Soon Fashion Fantasist xx