A Labour of Love, indeed

Back around December of 2007, having recently quit my non-profit job and wanting to do something else, I dreamed of opening a boutique filled with all my favorite things. I'd be my own boss and get to spend my days surrounded by a collection that I curated. I spent hours and hours researching what lines I would carry, what kind of fixtures I'd have, what wallpaper I wanted. I even started scouting locations and made a phone call to inquire about the cost of a well-located vacant storefront on Havemeyer Street. Unfortunately, health problems and a sinking economy put that dream on hold indefinitely, as I saw many of my favorite Brooklyn stores shut their doors over the course of the next year.

If I ever did open a store, however, I would only hope that it would look something like Labour of Love, a somewhat new independent boutique in London. I've always identified more with London style than I have with New York, and this shop really personifies that look and spirit. It's located within spitting distance of my old apartment in Angel Islington, which would have been really dangerous had it existed when I lived there in 2003-4. The actual brick-and-morter store is a well-curated collection of clothing, accessories, books, objects, and music... a portion of which is thankfully available on their e-shop. Browsing the site has made me really miss London.

Items in this set:
Miriam Ocariz black scalloped skirt, 470 GBP
Finsk Angular cut-out platform shoes, 235 GBP
King Red and white 'Band Leader' cardigan, 196 GBP
Labour of Love White silk patterned shirt, 131 GBP
Gaspard Yurkievich Tights, 88 GBP
Gemma Lister black sequin necklace, 40 GBP
Labour of Love khaki ruffle bib fronted shirt, 87 GBP

Ruffle my feathers

There was this girl with a feathered collar on Face Hunter last winter that everyone was obsessed with, including me... where could we get such a thing?

There was one on Pixie Market that was really expensive and a few, not quite as cool ones on Etsy. I never bought one and pretty much forgot about it, until I was at Spitalfields yesterday and came across Lulu O'Neil's booth, a 50-year old charming Scottish lady who makes burlesque-inspired accessories, where I found a version of said feather collar for a reasonable 25 squids.

Yes, that's me in no make-up.

Sadly all she has is a Myspace page (Myspace? Hello, so 2006...) but I'm sure she would do a custom order.

In other news, I have exactly one week left of school! Terrifying. Where did the summer go? Its job hunting time again, sigh.

Design class final project

I am winding down my time at school and have just turned in my final project for Design process class. The idea of this class was to teach you the process through which designers come up with a collection. Obviously, this is different for anyone, but there are certain pathways through which one comes up with a design concept that has a cohesive theme, tone, color palette, and consumer. Of course I decided to do lingerie and my collection is very "me." I thought maybe I should try to do something to challenge myself a little more but you go with what you like, right? I named my fictional brand "Chelsea Violet." The first thing to think about is your consumer. My consumer was a ladylike, sensual woman who is confident and comfortable in her own skin. She is happy. She enjoys the finer things like perfumes, afternoon tea and fresh flowers. Basically a modern, very English woman who purchases lingerie for herself and not for a man (though if I man gets to see them, its a bonus!). I got my inspiration through visiting the antiques flea markets around London and Paris, fashion editorials by Gemma Booth, and look books by Chantal Thomass who I have mentioned a lot on this blog.

The name Chelsea Violet refers to a few things. Chelsea is just a name that I like and that I found to be quintessentially English. Violet has to do with the color palette, which is based around the violet color (basically various shades of purple, lilac, etc.), and of course flowers which are very much an inspiration for the silhouette and fabrics. Also, violet is somewhere in between pink, which is the color of very sweet, innocent lingerie, and black, which is supposed to be the naughty kind. This collection falls somewhere in between.

I'd never done much drawing before this class so doing the technical drawings was definitely a learning experience. Lingerie is probably a little easier than drawing complex garments like a suit or something but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out in the end. I did the technical drawings by hand and then scanned them into Illustrator where I colored them.

And finally, the fashion illustration... this was a hard part for me and I owe my friend Margarita for helping me figure out how to translate a flat design (one of the more complicated ones at that) onto a body. I wish I had had something better than markers to color it in but that's all I brought. Would have looked a lot nicer with water colors.

That's it!

One more week of class and then I'm done... and will have to figure out what the hell I am doing next. Not even sure if I'm ready to move back to America yet, but may have to. Not sure what the future will bring.

Getting inspiration

Finally getting around to doing an entry. Instead of homework I suppose which I have put off all weekend with the exception of trying to get "inspiration" by first hitting the Angel Antiques Market on Saturday and then the Clerkenwell Vintage Fair on Sunday. I don't really like when people apologize for not posting or whatever since a blog is just a blog and you do it when you have time or feel like writing, unless you're getting paid. So no apologies. I have been having fun and going out and learning and doing stuff and generally having a good time.

School is waaayyyy more intensive than I thought it would be, I have six courses and assignments for all of them: European Culture and History, Fashion Marketing, Product Development, Fashion Forecasting, The Design Process, and Styling. And so far I have been slacking on pretty much all of them and not entirely liking what I am doing. We did our first shoot for fashion styling, it was kind of hilarious being dressed like this in Shephards Bush, kind of a FAIL. People kept shouting Lady Gaga at me.

The class I'm finding the most confusing is Fashion Forecasting, which I thought I would be really good at, but I really don't understand how trends are forecasted, especially colors. Basically it seems like 2-3 industry experts decide and then everyone else listens to them and decides that SALMON IS IN FOR S/S '11. Huh? I wear the same colors all the time and wear clothes for years, does that make me not fashion forward? We have to pick a couple trends that will be popular 2 years from now and make illustrated mood boards around the themes. I am TOTALLY dreading that one. I am also having a hard time getting used to this style of education. I am sort of used to being lectured to and having exams and cramming etc... not forced to be creative all day long: its exhausting! This is why my friend Margarita says art school doesn't work. Anyways...

Here is a photo set from the days past two events. Naturally, after blowing too much money on vintage this weekend I am now going to PARIS for 5 days with my program. God help me. Oh and befor the photo set let's have one of those American-in-London teenage humor moments.

LOL, Laycock.

THANK YOU GOODNIGHT!

Hi I'm back

I have internet! I am finally reunited with all my friends like gmail, facebook, flickr, google reader, and um, gchat. I guess I don't really use that many web pages but with a pay-as-you-go phone and no internet I was feeling really out of touch with everyone from back home, so hopefully that will now change.

So its been week 2 of fashion school and its been rather bizarre and weird to say the least. It feels very strange to be drawing in class and making collages of magazine cut outs when one is used to sitting in lectures and having in-depth conversations about health policy in the EU (which, to be fair, I was often spacing out on and probably making doodles in my notebook). It also is just strange to be a full time student again, especially starting from scratch in the way that I am and realizing that I don't really know all that much about fashion at all, at least compared with some of the tutors that I'm learning from.

Today we had a design process class where I was presented with the dreaded task of having to DRAW SOMETHING. Thankfully it turned out ok and I was actually pretty impressed by myself though I do recall I just mostly plagiarized a set of vintage shoes that I had seen in a shop in Berkeley. But hey, look ma, I can draw!



Apart from school, I am finally set up with a new cheapie bike (a 60's German bike that I purchased from a guy in London Fields), a new IKEA mattress so as to not break my back again, and now internet at last, I am starting to feel more at home. Now if only I could get a bank account!

I'm seeing Blur on Friday. I am also already causing mischief. I love London.

'Ello, gov'ner!

...long blogging pause...

Yes, a lot has changed in the past couple weeks. I subletted my apartment, packed up all my things, and hopped the pond with 4 suitcases in tow for what will likely be about 3 months, but may be longer if I find some kind of work.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm back in London.

It feels quite natural to be living here again and sort of like I never left, although I'm still feeling a bit culture-shocked for the time being. I have had no internet and am here in the back of a sad-looking Wetherspoon's (a chain of pubs in the UK known for low prices but also for a rather trashy clientelle) off Stoke Newington High Street, near the room I have rented for the summer. Its with a bunch of randoms (a Swedish-Columbian couple and a British guy who I have yet to meet) but its fine so far. It smells a bit funny and there is no living room but we have a nice little garden and my rent has been halved from what it was in Brooklyn so it can't be all bad. The neighborhood I'm living in, according to the map, is known as "Shacklewell" but I believe it is lumped in as part of Dalston, what I figure it kind of the "Bushwick" of London, i.e. kind of underdeveloped but lots of people my age living here and lots of house parties and what not. Its taking some getting used to, especially because last time I lived in London I had a really central apartment in a posh neighborhood. But its ok because most of my friends live within walking distance, which is a nice change from how London used to be! I am looking into getting a bicycle once my bank account is out of the red so I think that should make my life complete.

Orientation for my program at London College of Fashion starts on Monday. It is very weird to think that I am a student again! Hoping not to be the oldest one there.

More once I get internets!