MARSALA MEETS ALUMINIUM

After spending whats felt like weeks creating a personal colour palette, I finally finished my take on the classic autumnal trend.  I rejuvenated the seasonal colours and added a sharp zesty mustard shade alongside a modern meets classic charcoal grey and an unexpected turquoise twist.  After lots of deliberation on what to call my colour palette I took to WGSN to search for upcoming trends, I found both colours 'marsala' and 'aluminium' on the pantone website and felt 'marsala meets aluminium' fitted my palette perfectly.

I then did some brand research and found that the brands Balmain and Mulberry fit my colour palette perfectly, the two campaigns I found embraced the majority of the colours. I feel the deep midnight blues alongside the berry tones contrasted by the mustard yellow add a distinct difference to both brands, I found high street brand Zara also incorporated quite a lot of these colours but didn't execute them quite as well as Balmain and Mulberry, I found their colour palette to be more natural. 

NEUTRAL COLOUR EXPLORATION

"FASHION IS NOT SOMETHING THAT EXISTS IN DRESSES ONLY.  FASHION IS IN THE SKY, IN THE STREET, FASHION HAS TO DO WITH IDEAS, THE WAY WE LIVE, WHAT IS HAPPENING."

After looking into the Autumnal colour trend and exploring the fiery orange and reds alongside the fuchsia pinks, I decided to further my colour research and look into neutral colours.  As trends go, I am a HUGE fan of the classic monochrome, masculine meets feminine vibe so naturally I am a lover of peaceful, neutral tones.

The first image was taken in Liverpool by the old docks, I was instantly drawn to this doorway due to its rustic look and decayed nature, I really love the strong contrast between the dirty grey peeling paint and the coppery metal tones that are slightly revealed in certain places. Even when wearing neutral clothing, I always feel it adds a touch of excitement to add a bright accessory whether that be a chunky scarf in the winter or a pop of colour on your nails in the summer, it allows your eye to be drawn in but not over faced by too much colour.

The metallic sheen to the distressed fabric in the second image is something I found quite ironic, this image was taken at an old marina in Greece, the fabric was used to cover up small fishing boats and was covered with all sorts of debris. I imagine that when it was new the cover was a bright gleaming white and from all of its use it has developed a dirty over layer that had start to form a metallic element to it, something I found odd that something so dirty could become more beautiful than when it started.

becky x

AUTUMNAL COLOUR EXPLORATION

As part of my course we were given a colour task, after looking into colours and how they compliment and contrast each other we were asked to choose a colour or theme and create a mood board presenting these colours.  I chose Autumnal shades and gathered my images using first hand and secondary research, the images shown directly above I found on Pinterest, I wanted to include a mixture of both secondary and primary research to show both the nature of the colour and how it can be converted in fashion pieces as part of the autumnal season. 

Autumnal is a colour trend that will always be apparent year in and year out, whether that be in classic chunky knits or the warm fiery browns of a trench coat, after doing my secondary research and looking into the fashion side of colour I decided to search through my collection of images i've collected over quite a long period of time as part of a personal colour exploration project. 

I tried to incorporate lots of different images as part of my primary research and an exploration into colour, as well as focussing on colour I also wanted to look into textures and strong lines and shapes. I took the first image of the bouquets of roses at a market in Rome when I visited last year, I found the repetition of the roses broken up by the soft blues and faded greys of the newspaper really complimentary and found it enhanced the bright fuchsia making it highly distinctive. 

As well as the naturally beautiful images of the roses and an old rusted skip I found when in Liverpool shopping, I also included images of typography I found whilst in Manchester, my home city! The bright pink and deep red of the H&M signage and the depth of the 3d text found on a Chinese restaurant in China Town I found really interesting as they both work as striking, eye catching signs although they have noticeably different qualities. For example, the H&M sign is made up of analogous colours as apposed to the Chinese text which is working with almost complementary colours, I find that both work just as well. 

becky x

FINAL MAJOR PROJECT

After completing my Art Foundation Diploma in June and achieving a distinction...aaaah! I am now pursuing my love of Fashion, Communication and Promotion at NTU and I am so happy with how the course is going so far! Coming from a predominately arty background I had a few reservations with this course before I started, with the fear that it would be too business and market based.

For my Final Major Project I worked on a trend proposal for a modern monochrome trend, as I'm also a lover of design as well as the promotional side of fashion, I created 2 body sculpture pieces using laser cut paper nets and then translated these designs into a fashion film... as shown above. 

I am incredibly pleased with how this turned out as it required a lot of patience and hard work when it came to teaching myself new areas of computer software I had never used before... I hope to extend this knowledge further in my time at NTU and learn brand new aspects to fashion promotion I haven't yet experienced.

becky x

BLOGGING FAVOURITES

JULIA REBOUDO// STYLONLYON

Coming from an Art Foundation background, I had slight reservations when starting my uni course with the worry of it being too 'academic' for my liking, although I love to write every now and again theres nothing I like more than being creative and experimenting especially when it comes to fashion photography.  Julia takes all of her beautiful photographs using a PEN E-P5, a retro styled camera using a mechanical shutter speed of 1/8000s. After viewing her amazing images I will definitely be adding this beauty to my wish list!

MEGAN ELLABY// PAGES BY MEGAN

Mancunian blogger Megan Ellaby is a name I see constantly, whether that be featuring in Company Magazine or on ASOS.com, her name is not one you can miss! After following her blog for a while I found myself itching to see a new daily OOTD post filled with photography shot in a stunning location on top of a brand new fabulous outfit, I swear her wardrobe is everlasting! With a masculine meets feminine vibe I find we have very much in common when it comes to styling for ourselves therefore she is a blogger I cannot manage without!

PORTIA HUNT// CE QUI SUIT

Portia Hunt is also a blogger from Manchester, however, unlike many fashion bloggers, she isn't always the one making an appearance in her images. Portia's images, whether they be fashion photography found at London Fashion Week or architectural inspired photography in the built up cities of Manchester and London, I love the simplistic element to her photography. Her blog is extremely slick and well designed with very little text and large powerful images, this is something I tried to incorporate when creating my personal blog.

becky x