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Hello There

My current project - Inside Out-  called for a photo shoot! and where a better place than Spode, it's impossible to get a bad shot, meaning it will look amazing on online portfolio's for when it come's to the dreaded uni application! - For those that aren't aware with what Spode is, it was once a main part of the thriving potteries industry! but as the industry for pottery declined places began to shut down and many factories we demolished. The Spode factory is located in stoke in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent a city renowned for its pottery, the space is now used for exhibitions and students work and just as an monument and memory to the thing that but Stoke-On-Trent on the map, pottery.

I adore Spode, as all of the damage and run down, crumbling details give the place an amazing atmosphere and background to any photograph, they even make a beautiful photo with out anything in them.

For the shoot I made a wadded turtle neck jumper inspired garment and head/neck piece, I made it purposely look unfinished to give it that extra-deconstructed look I also sewed it all using the overlocker so that the stitching stands out alot more and almost looks like an outline. 

Whilst there we got a friend from the photography course to make a film / documentary on it, it turned out amazing, shes a really good film maker - check her out on YouTube - Timztelly
Documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M--h3cq0JU

TTFN
Beards and Brogues 

☯

New Year. 2014

Hello there!

Its finally the end of 2013 and time to take out all the bad things of 2013 *cough* leather trousers *cough* and welcome in the New Year. And as with all New Years comes  New Years Resolutions! so if you haven't got any, here are some suggestions;

- Eat Healthy

- Quit Smoking

- Start a Fashion Brand

- Go Out More
- Go Bingo

- Get Fit

-Get Ripped

- Start A Blog

etc.

I've decided to go for - Blog more, Read More, Don't Be a Pushover and Get Fit! But the real test is whether I stick to them! - fingers crossed...

I thought my first post of 2014 should be a cheeky little ootd, i would do my New Years ootd however I was a silly goose and never took a snap, however i recently went thrifting and found a few little treasures;

 - Short Sleeve Embroidered Jumper -
- £1.99 -

 - Pink Burberry Shirt -
- £2.50 -

- Denim Stand Collar Shirt -

- £1.99 -

And finally my FAVOURITE find in recent times;

 - Suede Coat with Bjorg Lining -
- £1 -

And so with this recent thrift and a ootd-less New Year I thought I'd do my ootd for today -

- Headphones - Sony, White Tee - Topman, Necklace - Topman, Coat - Thrifted, Jeans - Cheap Monday, Shoes - Nike Blazers -

I also thought I should give christmas a gentle nod in this post too  as its my favourite holiday of the year!

- A few of my favourite decorations, the last one is the oldest decoration we have in the house and is probably the one that I love the most -

Thats all for this post! I hope you all had an amazing New Year and I hope 2014 is equally as amazing for everyone!

Happy New Year

TTFN
Beards and Brogues!
☯

Labrinth Come In!

kumusta may!
and if you're not filipino
Hello there!

It's friday so its time for my SCF or Style Crush Friday!
this week my style crush is Labrinth

- Photo By Phil Sharp 2012 -

What I love most about labrinth style is the way that he mixes hip hop and urban with classic vintage pieces.
To me Labrinth is the definition of the word 'swag' if there ever was one, he's the only man I know that can wear turtle necks with a hat and a chain and a scarf without it looking too crowded! Another reason I have chosen him is because I like the fact that his outfits never really look similar, I imagine that if you spread his wardrobe out through a whole room and asked people how many peoples wardrobe do you think this is, I think they'd say at least 4 because of  that variety.

- normally I'm not a fan of cuffed chinos, but he makes them amazing!-
- Outfit all from Topman -

- I need this scarf! -

- Jumper - Cos, Jeans - Nudie, Boots - Topman -

- He even makes carrying a suitcase look cool -

- Tee - Urban Outfitters, Coat - Squadron HQ. -

This is one of my most favourite song, Earthquake and I like the Live Lounge version so much, my favourite thing about it is the choir that mix between hip hop and classic... I JUST LOVE IT!



TTFN

Beards and Brogues!

☯

From Rags To Riches

Hello There!

As I'm an art student, I naturally get assigned projects of the art kind!
And I've recently been given my FMP (final major project! The theme for the project is....

'Inside Out - Outside In'
I know a few of you maybe thinking, 'like when you put your clothes on and then you have the label out and you have to make the choice between; keeping it inside out, going through the effort of getting changed or turning it right side out and risk getting a nasty case of bad luck!' because I know thats what I initially 

thought of...
But then after some further thought and thinking in a more arts-y, textile-y, fashion-y way my train of thought lead me to eureka land! i thought of seams on clothes and how they construct garments and act as a skeleton. This then lead me to begin deconstructing some of my old clothes.

I began to take large chunks out of garment, and just leaving the seams and stitching to hold it together.

This reminded me of the cage skirt, which has been developed since victorian times and is now constantly on and off the couture catwalks! and is ever more popular with the steam punkers and cyber gothics.

-Cage Skirt by Chaos Latex-

-Those crazy steampunk gothics with their walking sticks and blue fringes-

-Cage Skirt by Alexander McQueen-

My next step was to dress my cut up clobber on a model!
My plan for the shoot was to make him look like he was dressed normal, but then have a piece of clothing that was missing about 85% of its substance.
(Because I might need my model model for me in the future I thought it would be best to pixelate his face, however I'm terrible when it come to technology so my finest Microsoft paint skills will have to do!)

 These are my favourite 5 photos out of the entire shoot!

My next move was to create a seam myself. Luckily around the time this idea came around an open day was on where I was needed to act as an example of 'what the students are doing now', if I'm being honest I was staying for the free coffee! but whilst waiting for people to come up to me and ask about the course etc, I discovered a machine... the overlocker! I'm still in awe at its amazing-ness! I soon got the hang of it and even sooner whipped up a long patchwork scarf of different colour, size and texture patches of fabric which I experimented with by pinning it to a backpack and also creating a 'snood' or 'infinity scarf'! 

-Scarf on my model-

-Scarf on a mannequin-

 -Backpack on a mannequin-

-Snood / infinity scarf on a mannequin

 -Close up of snood / infinity scarf-

  -Close up of snood / infinity scarf-

I'm so inspired with this project and I'm really looking forward to see where it develops and leads too, I've already got some awesome ideas and if they work it will be AH-MAY-ZING but they could change depending on what happens with development etc.
But I'll keep you posted!

TTFN
Beards and Brogues!

☯

I Want To Start Something New - SCW

Hello there!

Long time no see (I'm Sorry -PLEASE DONT HATE ME-)

I've been chocka bloka with college work but the rolling programme is now finished, so I have more time to focus on other things instead of running around like dick dastardly after the pigeon!

I've been thinking of what I can do as something new to my blog to make it more a fashion blog and less of a random thing, and I thought maybe I could have like a set day for a set thing. - kinda like how monday night is bingo night- but in the crazy world of blogging of course. So I was scrolling through the social networks and hoping an idea would just spring to mind., and just like that it did!

I noticed that these 'man crush mondays/MCM and women crush wednesdays/WCW' things were becoming fairly popular and then I thought I could do a style crush type thing where I just post about someone whose wardrobe I would love to run away with, and probably elope - but not in a creepy way! 

So this is my idea, i'm going to road test it for a few weeks and if it goes ah-may-zing then I might consider doing more things based on a daily theme!
so im thinking of naming it...
Style Crush Friday or SCF for short.
So here is my first post

Nick Grimshaw

I've chosen Nick Grimshaw for my first Style Crush Friday as I have always wanted to be him! he radiates cool and has a wardrobe to match. I love the way he mixes urban with tailored and tailored with casual to create an iconic look. Lets face it I'd be willing to say about 60% of men that know who Nick Grimshaw is has wanted to be him at least once in there life, I know I have!

- This makes me want a camel coat! -

-Nay I NEED a camel coat!-

- Grimmy definitely loves a biker jacket, who doesn't?- 

-Favourite outfit! those pesky layers always win me over!-

- I love that Grimmy wears a stripe pretty much all year round, but dresses it differently to make it weather and season appropriate -

TTFN

Beards and Brogues!
☯

Orley Spring 2014!

Orley have released their Spring 2014 collection, so I thought this would be the perfect chance for me to pick my favourite looks from their collection and give some form of review I guess, however I'm not the best at reviews as you're probably about to find out, but I'll try my bestest!

Orley is a Brand consisting of 2 Brothers (Alex and Matthew Orley) and Samantha Florence (Matthews Fiancee) and are a label that Specializes In Knitwear. As a brand they are constantly sourcing inspiration, be it from buildings in exoctic places to vintage iconic motifs. The Brand is constantly exceeding their challenge to never conform and to stand out! 

 “Our customers are Matthew and I, I don’t wear any black.” - Alex Orley

-Image Source: orley.us-

There SS14 Collection takes inspiration from islamic architecture and eastern motifs. What I love about this collection is their odd choice in colour bring autumnal shades and mixing them with pastels to revamp the spring colour palette! Another thing that really stands out to me is the way that they have used vintage style cumberbands, lowered them so they act more as a belt, I feel like this detail takes their looks to a much more classier and elite platform, making their garments look more expensive.
Their use of space dye knits and pleated shorts have really inspired me and made me want to start planning my spring wardrobe! Im also infatuated with their use of loafers and socks to give an 'old man' sense of being to the collection which brings me to the final thing that i love about this brand! their fashion video;

- I can't add it for some reason but I'll link it here -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tguDsLerVLU

"We rely on our tenets of elegance and irreverence" - Matthew Orley

What I love about this video is that they have made it not an obvious fashion film or even to do with fashion!, and the fact that they have used elderly models for the film and young models for the photographs shows how versatile there clothing is and that the label doesn't see for any reason of fashion having restrictions to age!

TTFN
Beards and Brogues!
☯