The Victoria and Albert Museum aka the V&A

This costume was first to attract my attention on my visit to the V&A, it was the vast size of it that drew me to it! The fan in front of it is what I would have really liked to have. I hope you can see it as it is almost camouflaged into the large dress!

These  beachwear that was worn in the 1950s  could be worn today, the fashion has come round again.

I find this dress with asymmetrical cut very interesting, the fabric is unusual  it has an African hint to it and the colours are lovely, very autumn like,  I like it very much and dare I say it, I could very much wear this dress!

What a beautiful little hat! The colours of the dismante and sequence are very lovely. Its just a lovely bit of "bling" that caught my attention.

Coombe Abbey

Coombe Abbey was also one of the beautiful places I visited over the weekend. I could honesty say it was one of the most amazing interiors I have ever seen. Take a look inside with me.

I love the extra long mirrors which reflects lots of much needed light. All the furniture were  absolutely beautiful and stone wall almost gives a proper medieval  feeling as if one is is a castle.

 I remember going to a medieval Banquet at the Abbey many years ago when I lived in Coventry
and boy was it spooky!?

Rugby Art Gallery and Museum

I visited the Art Gallery and Museum in Rugby over the weekend, there were a few things that caught my attention. I was amazed at how tiny the waist of this outfit was, obviously the lady who wore this garment would have been tight laced but even so its extremely tiny, cant have measured any more than 20 inches!

These shoes look like the ones my mum made wear to primary school, the only difference was my shoes were not made of metal!

And guess what the bit of traption is?

A MAN TRAP?!! Yes you are right, I could not imagine there being such a device!

I could not resist photographing this Imperial typewriter as it reminded me that I have passed my 70 words per minute typewriting with the Pitmans exam board! Now that made me sound ancient! I had lots of fun type writing back in those days.

Design- Evening gown

One of my designs in a bold colour, this will be an additional garment to my Caribbean Collection, I really like the flow of the dress, the style is very forgiving and will suit any body frame.

London Fashion Week

Thoroughly enjoyed our field trip to London Fashion week last month, the atmosphere was great and the "dresser-up-ers" were fun to look at. I thought this lady was cute, I love her use of pastel colours and I thought she choose the right style to suit frame.

It took me a while to realise this fashionister was actually a man! But what gave the game away was his 6ft7 high and mighty stature!! Hats off to him he looked the part - a very pretty woman indeed!

It was my first time to the fashion week, I will certainly be a regular there.

Caribbean Collection (from the beach to the ball)

From all the research looking into the fashion/trends of spring /summer 2014 for my final major project what stood out most for me was the use of bold, bright colours and exaggerated shapes. I have decided to create a collection that is personal to me and one in which I can creatively represent where I came from. I called this the Caribbean Collection (from the beach to the ball). This is the perfect wardrobe for a Caribbean cruise and includes a beachwear which I team up with carnival head dress.

The yellow in this garment represents the golden Caribbean sunshine.
Carnival is a major Caribbean cultural festival which last for ten days every year, which is why I chose to team this garment up with a carnival headdress.

Mary J Blige - My Muse

"I was never really able to look at myself in the mirror until I began to hear God telling me I was beautiful. Suddenly, other people started telling me I was beautiful too because I had started believing it" Mary J. Blige,  Essence.

I have chosen the 42 year old r&b singer as my muse for my present Caribbean Collection (from the Beach to the Ball)  because she is strong, confident, stylish, talented,  independent and successful. She keeps up to date with trends internationally. Mary has the perfect silhouette of my target customer and she falls within the her age range. Mary wears a mixture of high street and designer fashion, Mary J. wears her clothes with confidence and wears many different style, shapes and bright bold colours. Her hairstyles are never the same and each one excentuates her beauty and brings out her unique personality.

According to the Essence Music Festival headliner Mary J may be adding "Fashion Designer" to her CV. The soulful singer revealed that she is thinking of a new fashion collection project. Mary spilled the beans on her new project at the Giorgio Armani's One night in Beijing Fashion Show party where she performed. Mary revealed that one of the first on her to-do list is to create boots and accessories.

Mary is frequently featured on covers of many top magazines, Vogue, Ebony, Essence, Black hair, and is currently cover feature on Vibe Magazine March issue.

Fund Raising for Fashion Show

Here are some evening handbags that I made for our stall to raise funds for our end of year fashion show, they were good sellers over the Christmas time for the Christmas parties.

Styling and Accessorising

Just thought of showing you this skirt that I have adapted with dimante and sheer fabric. It was a plain mini skirt, I added a wide strip of dimante trimming  overlayed it with some chiffon and teamed it up with a lovely gold belt and the brown and black top just completed the look. So I have made a sexy party skirt from a plain mini summer skirt.

Styling

This skirt was a plain colour light denim mini skirt. It was a lovely fit but just a bit too short for me so I adapted it totally to suit myself and cover my legs in a chic and sexy way. 

Firstly I sewed on lots of sequence to form a beautiful pattern on the skirt then I trimmed the hemline with a strip of bling and thirdly I sew on a full length of chiffon to finish the look. I teamed the skirt up with a black top to match the black sequence and chiffon. Also costume jewellery to match with black and silver shoes to complete the style.

Final Major project

Above is my final line up for my Caribbean Collection(from the beach to the Ball). Each colour represents the Caribbean in some shape or form. The Yellow beach wear represents the golden sunshine. This garment will be teamed up in the cat walk with a carnival head dress.
 The blue and turquoise day wear represents the blue skies and the turquoise sea, the lines on the skirt represents the horizon where the sky meets the sea, the pattern on the skirt stands for the pebbles on the seashore.
The red play suit carries a detachable train which makes the garment versatile for both day and evening wear. The red represents the virtual confidence the Caribbean has of paradise.
The white jumpsuit represents the purity and unspoilt Caribbean. The garment could be either day or evening wear.
The design of the green evening dress represents the rows of crop in the fields. The colour stands for the lush green vegetation of the Caribbean.
The turquoise ball gown is a fish tail style and represents the fish in the Caribbean sea.

Lifestyle Awards Evening Gown

 

This evening gown I am making for the Lifestyle awards that I mentioned in my Magazine Article. As you can see it is made from embossed lace which is one of my favourite winter fabric. I love black lace and often use it in my autumn/winter designs. The gown is trimmed with leather which is so popular in this season's fashion. I have used some embellishments for detail. I am going to add a train from sheer black fabric to finish the look. As you can see from the close ups the lining fabric is skin colour to give the illusion of the bare skin under the black lace. Watch this space for the finish product.