Menswear: Condemned Nation

With Christmas on its way I haven’t had much time or money to do my big Christmas shop! So on Saturday I headed up to Leicester with my little brother Courtney to grab the last few bits of shopping for my mum, boyfriend and my brother. My brother is 17 but he is super fashion conscious like me (it must be in the blood lol), he finds the coolest T shirts, trainers and trousers that even shock me! As I wanted to buy my brother something for Christmas I told him to keep his eye on for anything that caught his eye, we headed to Footasylum and I was totally shocked by what they had on offer for men in terms of their clothing. Condemned Nation is a brand that stood out to both of us, the brands identity is very British referencing the Victorian era, military and reinventing them into an urban style. This is currently my favourite urban menswear brand at the moment!  

My Dissertation...

Surprisingly I have been really enjoying writing my dissertation (I know it sounds crazy) lol, most of my friends who are writing theirs are not particularly enjoying it! Luckily for me my uni gave us the option between doing an 8,000 word dissertation or a 4,000 word written piece with a fashion practical, - this could be in the form of photography, performance, film, installation or dress. I chose to do the 4,000 word dissertation as I don’t always feel confident with my writing as it depends on what I’m writing about, but having said that I found quite easy as there is so much I want to talk about and discuss and I’m realising it probably going to be difficult to fit it all in 4,000 words! Anyway, my dissertation question/topic is: How Has Vivienne Westwoods Early Punk Style Influenced Fashion?’. I chose this topic as I’m fascinated with subcultures delving into their attitudes, styles and what they stood for! I also find it interesting how the anti fashion styles have been implemented into contemporary fashion. The punk subculture is defiantly a subculture that gets referenced continuously within fashion and occurs season after season! I have been thinking about my practical piece for some time now and I have decided to recreate 5 outfits from 5 different designers who have all been influenced by punk and of course Westwood created punk, so that will be the connection! I will be creating the outfits myself and styling them for the shoot, a friend of mine who I went to college with and now comes to the same uni as me will be photographing it for me, as I don't always feel confident with photography as strange as it sounds so I'd rather have someone who I know is amazing do it for me.
 The whole DIY attitude the punks had is what made their fashion and style so infamous, they often used recycled materials and implemented them into their clothing, creating their own versions of what Westwood and McLaren made and sold at their shop on Kings Road. Some of the outfits that I'll be recreating were on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY (May 2013) where they had the exhibition PUNK: Chaos to Couture celebrating the culture in every aspect!

Outfits I'll be recreating:  

Alexander McQueen S/S 1999: Graffiti Dress

Ashish A/W 11

Karl Lagerfeld Vogue March 2011

Zandra Rhodes: Conceptual Chic Collection 1977

Maison Martin Margiela 1992

What I've been up to....

So basically over the summer I was doing an internship with a freelance fashion stylist called Kylie Griffiths.  For one of my units at university I had to carry out an internship, the work experience had to be within the field of work we wish to pursue when we finish uni. It was a great experience and I learnt a lot about the styling process during my time there, some days were good and some were bad. I worked closely with PR companies when dealing with returns and pick ups and it really widened my knowledge on how PR companies work, - although having taken a PR unit at university you really don’t learn the works until you do it first hand! Some of the highlights of my internship was styling Lucy from Towie for a shoot with FHM, the location house which was used was absolutely amazing! I have never been in such a beautiful house, - to be honest both houses on both shoots were amazing, it really gave me something to work towards.Overall I had a great time and it really helped me decide what I want to do as a career when I’ve finished uni, I definitely still want to pursue my dreams of being a stylist, but I have also decided I want to venture down the route of buying and I am steering towards this area and will be demonstrated within my final major project. I’m now on the hunt for internships/work experience related to this area, looking at trend forecasting and buying 

opportunities.

 

Christmas Wishlist...

I don’t ever normally make a wishlist for Christmas or birthdays as it’s not really my style! But I have decided to do one this year as there are so many lovely things out on the high street at the moment, the winter season is one of my favourites as we’re able to layer up as much as possible but still look good! Also I have noticed this year how a lot of the bright colours from the summer season are trailing over to winter, - I personally love to see a splash of colour during winter especially when it’s grey and gloomy outside! So here I have put together a few items that I currently have my eye on for Christmas!

It has been a long time...

It has been a very very long time since I have posted anything on my blog, there is no excuse really apart from forgetting about it, and just getting on with my life. I have decided that I am going to take my blog a lot more seriously from now on, as I am now in my third year of university and I will soon be looking for jobs and internships, which many ask if you have a blog! So I’m going to put a lot more time and effort into doing so! A lot has happened in my life over the last few months, so this week will be based on catching up on what I have been up to, and what I plan to do next!

Jordan x