Franklyn Seals - Vincentian

As I was researching for my Final Major Project on the Caribbean Collection theme.  I came across some paintings by Franklin Seals who was born on the Caribbean Island of St Vincent on 15th July 1952. St Vincent is where I was born and raised too. Seals attended the very sought after Julliard Theatre School in New York before appearing in Various television productions of Shakespeare's  plays, including Macbeth and the Taming of the Shrew where he played the role of Petruchio. From 1983 to 1987 Seals portrayed in the role of Dexter Stuffins in the sitcom Silver Spoons, followed by guest appearances on Wiseguy, Growing Pains and Amen. His movie appearances include The Onion Field, Star Trek, The Motion Picture and Southern Comfort. In addition to being a very talented Actor Seals has created some fantastic paintings. I am very proud of Franklyn Seals's achievements as he is one of my own country men.

This painting of Seals is called Carnival which really inspired me because the colours and shapes are alike those from my Caribbean Collection. In fact I am inspired by all of Seals's paintings and artwork.

Dressing the Queen

Angela Kelly the Queen's dressmaker has revealed that it took more than 12 months of preparation to dress the Queen for the Diamond Jubilee. She said that two identical dresses were created for the Queen's staring roll in the Olympic opening ceremony. Kelly explained that even those making the garments didn't know why two identical garments were required for the same event, as the Monarch's starring roll was kept top secret. The scene saw the Queen star alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond first inside Buckingham Palace and then apparently jumping out of the helicopter over the Olympic Stadium, with the stunt man wearing an exact replica of the Queen's dress. The Buckingham Palace dressmaker worked quietly for months and tried very hard to never having both dresses out of storage at the same time.

The dressmaker has also disclosed other Royal style secrets, such as how the Queen taught her to squeeze a fabric sample to see how badly it creases before using it and how hemlines of coats and dresses should be weighed down to avoid embarrassments in windy conditions.

Alice in Winter-land

Alice in Winter-land is a themed charity Ball put on by Hope House Children's Hospices. The magical Charity event took place at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel  in Chester last night. Hope House Hospices are proud specialist nursing care and support to live-limited children and young people from Shropshire, Cheshire and North and Mid Wales.

I attended the event wearing a garment that I created. I didn't want a traditional evening gown so I chose to make this dress from leather, lace and chiffon along with diamante breading. The lace at the front and the sides of the dress is lined with skin colour lining which gives a see through look to those areas of the dress. The garment has a Gothic look which is different to what I am used to wearing but I felt very confident and comfortable wearing this dress and got lots of compliments too.

1st Lady of Fashion

Victory for Barack Obama on the US Presidential election last night! That means for another four years we will see a lot more of the Powerful. International, Fashion Icon Michelle Obama. She is an inspiration and a role model to women around the world and every African American woman aspire to be like her in some shape or form.

Her absolutely impeccable sense of style and stunning figure with those envious arms  will be admired for another four years.