Cushions

these cushions are based on the film where the wild things are and i think they are just brilliant they really capture it and i love the textures the print creates.

Where The Wild Things Are

i went to see this film today and it was absolutely beautiful i loved the way it was shot but i found it very sad. i miss having such an imagination i wish i could dissapear and be happy to be on my own.
i am also absolutely obssessed with max's (the little boy in the film) outfit. i really want to make one. it just looked like the cosiest thing ever.
it may sound like a weird thing to say but i was also intrgiued by all the textures in this film and it made me really interested in wood. i loved the little wood mountains he made which were like twigs stacked up. also the feathers on the chicken/bird-like thing which is shown below are brilliant.

Also the soundtrack was absolutely brilliant and was done by Karen O and i adore it. it is almost childlike but so soft and beautiful and times.

My Amazing New Jacket

i got the most amazing jacket/top for christmas and it is officially the best christmas present i have ever got but i also got a tamagotchi which comes quite high in the ranks. it is by Jaeger but my mum got it off ebay so i bet it was a bargain (well i hope so) but it is black with beautiful clear sequins and beads that shine it has a zip down the back of the top but i like to turn it around to make it a jacket as well. it also has really big shoulder pads which make it so structured and beautiful.

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FASHEMATICS

what + what = WHO

Today i found this site on the web and i just think it is fascinating and hilarious it kind of explains runway trends through putting together two items together. the website is http://fashematics.com/

but here are a few images from the website.

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yes yes they are my guilty pleasure

I miss leeds.

I had a proper breakdown trying to get home yesterday through the snow and trying to take too much stuff home on the train and however much i am relieved to be home i miss leeds and everyone too much.

Creative Design Realisation - Day 3

I found today much harder and needed a lot more help but i found it really rewarding and enjoyed doing the fullness and flair. i need to do a few more sleeves and play around with different sleeve types but i am looking forward to doing it. what a geek....

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Rainy Leeds

This is by Christopher Raeburn for spring 2010 and i love it i really like the imagery for one but the design is brilliant i think it is really beautiful i really like the line going from the hood down which looks liek it is streamlined. it is also more elegant than a normal raincoat and is just what i need for living in Leeds.

Creative Design Realisation - Day 2

Today we played around with more darts which i found tedious but then i started experimenting and found it really interesting. i particularly liked playing with shapes and seeing how it turned out when transferred to fabric. we then did zips which was very exciting as i had never been taught how to put a zip in properly so i was amazed when it was shown to be so easy, but then it came to me doing it which was a little bit more complicated especially the concealed zip. i found today so helpful and I feel like i might go zip crazy now i know how to put them in.

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Creative Design Realisation - Day 1

It was the first day of our new brief and i am really excited about starting to do a much more technical part of the course and learning so many new things. this is the part of the course i was most excited about as i find it hard to design when you are scared of what you can't do.

so today we started with looking at darts and changing where darts can be placed.

i found it really difficult at first but as soon as i understood, which took a while, i found it really easy and i am really excited about the next few days and putting together my technical file.

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i love french music

Khristian Mendoza

There is something so interesting about these images i would like to have a look at more of his work as i can imagine these being quite a good starting point for some designs as i like the idea of the shapes and the transparency and what is considered as transparency.

it is almost about the textures behind the shape as it would be boring if it was a white space but then i guess the shape makes up the image. i would like to experiment with this. i also like the fact the model is dressed all in black.

Hugh Grant (Four Weddings...)

I WANT THESE GLASSES MORE THAN ANYTHING!

I Love Collage

Natasha Weissenborn is a graphic designer who had recently graduated i love the way she puts together images. and the way all the images she collects connect in some way. i like the way she uses text, the way she uses newspaper cut outs as well as handwritten and magazine letter cut outs. i want to use more collage/photoshop collage in my projects when playing around with isolated images as i feel if i had done this i could of got a better outcome in my project as you can play around with scale and turn it and stretch it. i think it just gives you more options.

DIY

I am on a DIY mission this weekend and wanna make as many things as possible as i need clothes to wear out for when i go home as i feel like a tramp and have no clothes as i have sold them all on eBay. therefore i have bought lots of fabric and found some odd bits and bobs in my suitcase and am going to try and make a few dresses mostly although i really fancy a new blazer/jacket. i have also made my auntie some cushions for her christmas present that are shown below but i haven't stuffed yet as i will not have enough room to get them home.

My Christmas List

Dear Santa,

this is my list for chirstmas i have decided as i have been treated a lot this year i have just popped a few essentials down.

• designer gouache paints
• Socks
• Knickers
• Rolling pin
• the lovely bones book
• iKlear screen cleaner for macbooks
• i heart new york book

oh and for my brother elliott i had a brilliant idea that he may not have thought of asking you for...The Boat That Rocked.

thank you and merry christmas.

Love,

Lauren

Esra Roise

My friend showed me this illustrator the other day and i am so obsessed with her i love the way she uses the ink to make up a piece of clothing. i just love pencil drawings there is something so delicate and patient about them they inspire me a lot and i would love to be able to draw like this. i also really like the content and the composition. the content is almost quite everyday but there is something almost dreamlike about some of it. the composition is beautiful and i love the way she doesn't necessarily need to show all of the figure for it to be clear what it is.

Charlotte Taylor

i found this blog today ( http://charlotte-taylor.blogspot.com/ ) and i just read the whole thing. i loved how honest she was about starting up her own label and it just made me excited about everything that is to come for me (fingers crossed). i love the fact she has moved to the isle of wight and i bet that will be what really focuses her ideas being away from the London scene and distractions. it made me think about how much organisation and business skill goes into creating and marketing a label and how it is your team that will make you a success and not just your designs. it is something that consumes your life i cant wait to have that feeling and be so excited to show of my designs.

Je Suis Belle

i found this on another blog but i really really liked it and found it inspired me so had to write about it on mine. It is Je Suis Belle's spring 2010 collection and is inspired by the works of contemporary Hungarian artist Atilla Szűcs. i really like the idea of looking at a painter and using the colours and subject matter as inspiration. i think Je Suis Belle have worked with this well and i like the way they have printed it onto the garments as well as using to inform the shapes and construction of the garment. i particularly like the kinda of knitted not finished edge of the black/navy and cream dress and the faded image. When looking at Szűcs paintings you can really see where the inspiration comes from.

Mark Time

I got my mark today and it was 65% which i believe is a 2:1 which i am so happy with. i know that i could have done better but it is a learning curve as i have found it very different from working at foundation level but in a fantastic way. i feel more inspired from what is around me instead of what i see in magazines, which i feel is a real step towards creating unique designs. i know how i can improve and i hope i will in the next project.

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this is by the Drums and is called Let's Go Surfing. There is something so soothing about this video and i love the way the band members fade in and out by running in the background.

Owl Obsession

I first found my obsession with owls when searching for material on eBay that i could make some clothes out of as i have no money and feel whilst i have free time i should be doing something productive that doesn't involve spending obscene amounts of money. i found this material which i am going to make cushions out of for my cousins room. i thought this would be a good christmas present as it is personal and i have made an effort. i then thought about how beautiful the feathers are on owls how delicate and little they are compared to a bird they look more soft and downy. i also like the power that owls have; the wing span, the head turning, the amazing eyesight for hunting at nights and amazing hearing. i did this drawing which I'm also going to print on a t-shirt for my brother. i want to explore into owls more as i think they are an interesting animal and really inspire me.

My Knitting

i finished my knitting today finally which i am really pleased with i like being able to knit but wish i was just a little bit more committed and a lot faster as i have been doing this since before i moved to Leeds in the summer. But i am pleased and its a nice colourful scarf that can keep me warm up north.

York

Today me, my boyfriend and my flatmate went to York. I had never been before so i was really excited. there was a big christmas market on which was really good. I took some photos which i really like as I like the fact York is so historic and so different to Leeds. It was so christmassy and really got me in the christmas spirit which i hadn't felt in leeds but i think it's because I'm here all the time.

Borders

i am so sad that borders is shutting for the most part that i love the fact you can stand in there for about an hour just skimming through magazines before you make your choice where as in newsagents you would be asked if you were going to buy it or not. i am also incredibly upset about losing the choice of magazines they have. Every time i go in there is something new for me to look at. i am particularly sad about not being able to get my hands on Lula or Cent as i really do not know where i am going to get them.

Laser Cutting

i had my laser cutting induction today which i'm really pleased i did and i can't wait to experiment especially with different fabrics as im sure it will have different effects to the edges of the fabric which will be so interesting.

J Crew Spring Lookbook

There is something so fantastically fairy-ish and almost eccentric old lady about this that i am absolutely obsessed with. the soft colours and light fabrics and just beautiful. i want it to be spring so that i can layer up but with light fabrics instead of massive cardigans and huge wool scarves. i long to wear my bleached white denim jacket with frills.

Assessment

I had my assessment today which went well in the sense i found that Angie was really critical and i think i really need this. she said everything i had been thinking about the design myself. i just hadn't pushed the idea far enough and played safe because of thinking about having to hand sew. i am a bit disappointed but i am pleased i am being told i just need to push it a little bit more instead of being told its rubbish. she was happy with my drawings as well which i was really happy about. we get our mark next week which i am worried about but it will be really interesting.

NothernPrize

On Sunday my flatmates and me decided to have a cultural day and go to some galleries. the one problem with this was that is was raining. so we only got as far Leeds Art Gallery so we saw the Northern Prize which was interesting but i didn't find particularly interesting apart from Rachel Goodyear who i have looked at before but had never seen her work at a gallery and i loved it. Her work is so different and almost creepy. I like her subject matter as i have never seen anything so odd. she uses pencil and watercolour. I think they would make amazing t-shirt prints and i might make one for my brother for xmas. i like this one especially.

The September Issue

I watched the september issue today and absolutely loved it. i love how Anna Wintour is so honest and to the point even if it is a bit "devil wears Prada" but i think that is why she is so successful. I think this was a very clever documentary as you saw many sides of what you can do in the fashion industry. I particularly liked Grace Coddington she seemed to have so much passion and love for the clothes more than Anna Wintour who seemed slightly above it all but perhaps that is why she is editor and Grace is creative director as Anna Wintour needs to be able to cut things without feeling bad about it otherwise the magazing would be full of rubbish.

Hand In

Today we handed in our project and its a bit of a relief but there is always that feeling that you could have done more and i just can't shake it today. i wish :

1. lined my shoulders on the dress

2. lined the triangles on the dress

3. managed my time better (i seem to cram at the start then loose interest even though i enjoy it)

4. maybe written about this is my evaluation.

5. damn it

Marc Jacobs Lipstick Pen

My friend, Sophie, came up to visit me from London the other day and with her she bought

a present for me which turned out to be a Marc Jacobs pen it looks exactly like a bright red lipstick and its absolutely amazing.

Today

Today i decided to draw some images from some magazines. i really like both images and i enjoyed working with pencil as i hadn't used it tonally for ages.

Bring The Romance Back

There is something so lovely about Audrey Tautou and this just makes me feel

that this is how love should be, all about love at first sight. I also love the architecture

of the train station and the colours of the trains exterior and interior. I also love the

feeling of confinement when you sleep on a train but not in a claustrophobic way.

Final Thing

I am really pleased with my dress but it think my sewing could have been better as i fount it quite hard as we had to hand sew it but i really like the pleating down back as you could wear it back to front as well. I did find this project quite hard as i found focusing on two separate subject areas and then bringing it together quite difficult as if you focused on one side of research who kind of left the other side behind which means it wasn’t as thorough and maybe less developed. But other than that i found it really interesting and felt i have done really well.

Front

Back

New Project

We were set a project and we had to choose a word or a phrase and an artist/designer. I chose tape and misshape and Alexandra Verschueren. When researching Alexandra Verschueren is a designer and a illustrator/graphic designer, I started exploring with origami as it is a type of paper folding which is what inspired Verschueren.

I particularly liked the cranes I made in graph paper. We then experimented with material on a stand which helped me consider scale as before I had just though about how it looked small and it helped me think about whether if I used origami they would all be the same size.

We then experimented with using images and placing them on a illustration of a person. These helped me consider shape and i continued to use this process throughout my project as it helped me process me ideas further. these are some examples below.

I found that the above image from isolated images looked particularly like Rob Resch’s work which then reminded me of triangles so i made mini paper triangles and put them on a drawing of a body and i really liked this so i decided to experiment with fabric triangles too.

For Tape and Misshape i started by looking at deformity as i wanted to explore natural misshapes and explore stranger shapes. i then looked at Bless which is a London based design studio formed in 2002 by Mary Lam and Dan Broad, who used different parts of clothing to make scarves. this is some of their work.

I then responded to it with this.

i decided to bring all my ideas together from both sides of research and came together with my final design which integrated the misshapeness off the shirt and the shoulders being exaggerated with the triangles running down the front of the dress.

Country Love

This is by Daniel Egneus and i absolutely love it. i don't know why but this kind of reminds me of everything i love about the countryside. i love the use of pencil and watercolours and the composition is what makes this image. i love the little ducks head as well.

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this has to be one of my favourite

videos ever. i love the fact she is so eccentric

and it just makes me want to push myself further

and design things that are absurd.

Fleur van Maarschalkerwaart

I love this loose way of drawing and particularly like the image using thread as well. i think this style of drawing works well as two of the drawings are nude. but i like the middle image as well as i like that there is almost two images in it a face and a body.