Fashion in Film

Within my university course, we tend to watch a few documentaries to exemplify some of the topic we learn in our studies, some of them great and others pretty boring, but recently, for research but also just for enjoyment, I discovered a few of my own documentaries on Netflix - a favourite of mine. 

These are great for those of you who not only love fashion, but who are also just interested in the topics of magazines, marketing, advertising, high fashion, and even journalism, and I'd highly recommend them to anyone. 

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's- 

This is perfect for those of you that not only love fashion, and of course shopping, but also those of you that love New York, and everything to do with business in general.

This documentary not only lets you into the luxurious doors of the department store, but also shows the history of partners Bergdorf and Goodman, and the evolution of the store throughout the decades. 

Another great feature of the documentary is how its sectioned into certain topics, meaning there's bound to be something everyone will find interesting. 
It looks into the specific designers who feature in the store, and the way they managed to get their way into the department store, the window designers, giving you a detailed view into the process of creating and completing a Christmas store window, the store assistants, the established celebrity customers throughout the decades, and stories/anecdotes from long standing employees.

The September Issue- 

This is a great insightful documentary based upon Anna Wintour and the lead up to the pinnacle September issue of Vogue, a real calendar moment in the fashion industry. 

With famous faces appearing such as the late Oscar De La Renta, Karl Lagerfeld, Coco Rocha, Lily Cole and even Jean-Paul Gaultier, the documentary offers a great range of celebrities that I'm sure everyone will know!

I really enjoyed this as you get to take a peek onto the fabulous life of the ever allusive Anna Wintour, something which as a fashion student I've always wanted to know about.

We get to hear about her past, her younger life and all the way through her (very envious) career as Editor in Chief at Vogue. it's also really interesting to see the other employees throughout the company, from photographers, editors, interns, stylists etc, and get their views at what working at the most iconic fashion magazine is like. 

Overall, these are super interesting and helpful if you're a fashion student, and are fantastic for the general fashion and shopping lovers! Plus another factor is that they're accessible to pretty much everyone, as they're shown on Netflix- obviously if you aren't a Netflix user then it may be harder but you where I'm going with this!

Have you seen the documentaries before? And would you give them a watch? 

Chloe

xo

Mother's Day Celebrations: Homemade Afternoon Tea

Now I know this post is a little late as Mother's Day has passed here in England, but I thought it would be a great post for those of you who either haven't yet celebrated Mother's Day, or are just looking for a fun birthday or party idea for friends and family. 
So this year for mother's day, we decided to do a home made Afternoon Tea as a cheap but also fun way to celebrate the occasion with the family. 

We made mini chocolate and lemon cakes, all types of sandwiches and of course, the classic tea and scones combo! The food was really lovely and it's a great alternative to the classic but foolproof buffets, as you eat as much as you want and have everything you like right in front of you! 
We also bought some simple card cake stands that were super easy to put together and are great for if you're looking for some lovely, cheap stands for those bakers in the family, mine are from TK Maxx.

We borrowed beautiful floral china from my grandma and dressed the table with vintage cloth, flowers and plates, it was a really simple but easy concept to pull off and I definitely think its a fabulous idea for parties, and other celebrations. 

So although this was a fairy short one, I hope some of you find it interesting and would maybe be inspired to give it a try in the near future!

What did you do for Mother's Day this year? Do you like the idea of afternoon tea? Let me know in the comments! 

Chloé 

xo

Trend Alert: Mom/Boyfriend Jeans

Recently I've been noticing a really common trend not just on the Fashion Week Streets, but also in popular blogs and on the high street, that skinny jeans seem to be stepping out of the limelight- finally something different to the ripped jeans we've seen everywhere!
It now appears that the Mom and Boyfriend style cut of Jean is becoming so much more popular- obviously they've been around for a long time, a classic cut for the girl who wants to add a bit of casualness or grunge to an everyday look, but for me, I'm still not convinced. I've always been worried they wouldn't be flattering and not fit in the right way, jeans are such an investment piece and it can be hard to find that 'perfect' pair!

Ever since I've consciously chosen my outfits, I've adored skinny jeans, they add length and shape to the legs, go with literally everything, and obviously come in a huge choice of colours and prints, not to mention that they can be dressed up with heels or be plain and comfy with some flats. 
But as of late, I've been considering delving into the uncharted territory of a different style, the looser fitting style of Mom/Boyfriend jeans look really versatile, and again like my beloved skinnies, can be dressed up or down, so maybe I should give them a go and take the bull by the horns! 

Now call me crazy, but I've never actually invested in a pair of Topshop jeans, not the Joni, or the Leigh or any other style you can name. I've always thought they were overpriced, I mean as a university student on a budget, paying £40 for a pair of jeans makes me cry inside, but there must be a reason they're so loved by literally everyone I meet? But I've been more inclined to try a pair as the boyfriend slouchy style is becoming popular, so maybe I might just do it, as everyone knows, fashion is about trying new things, breaking the rules! 

Should I leave my skinnies at the door and go for it?
Would you buy a pair or do you already have some? Let me know in the comments section below! 

Chloé

xo

Self Reflection

I haven't posted on my blog for a few weeks now, and in all honesty, I've been having what most would call a writers block. Honestly, I never thought I'd be one to experience this, mainly because I've never done anything like a blog before, it's all still new to me and I'm still finding it hard thinking of new and interesting things to write.

But for this post, I thought I'd just write a little about what we did in a seminar recently on my course, and I'd urge others to do this too.

Our lecturer called it BrandYOU, talking about the concept that we should analyse ourselves in the same way we would a brand. This means looking at our personalities, our essence, the very things that shape who we are, just how we would do to a brand we wanted to know more about, and I know it sounds a little stupid and almost philosophical, but it was actually a really interesting and surprisingly fun task to do. 

We first started off simply, by just giving some words to describe our personality, but trying to keep them positive and relevant. This is a great way of helping yourself discover what you might be good, or bad at. Another helpful tip is to do this task with a friend or family member- someone who knows you well, that way they might give you some answers you hadn't thought of. 

The second part was to describe what colour you'd be, and this was a little more difficult, as we had to be intuitive and think about the implications of what colour we had, matching this to our personality. For example, I picked mint green, as I associate green as being a calm, mellow colour something I know I am. Yet I picked the specifics of the mint because I felt that it was close to blue, and also yellow, I know I can occasionally be emotional and also happy the majority of the time, therefore leading me to pick a colour similar to blue, and yellow. 

Lastly, we had to choose an animal that represented our personality, again making sure we were being intuitive with our choice. This was a difficult one for me, as I didn't just want to pick a boring, cliché animal like a dog or lion, something that seemed popular. 

Although for me, I thought the concept and qualities of a dog was similar to how my personality is, I'm loyal and look after those in need, plus I love my family, that's when I thought of a Wolf. They're the same family as dogs, but are still loyal and enjoy being in a pack, just like I enjoyed being with family, they also don't like to travel too far away from their family, something I could relate to. 

So all in all, I'm sure you're wondering what this has to do with anything relevant in life, but its actually a fantastic way to market yourself for the future. Instead of thinking about the negatives, turn your personality into a positive outlook, for example, instead if saying that your'e an angry or confrontational person, turn it into confidence and not being afraid to speak your opinion, which is much more valued. 
By doing this task it also helps you to relate your personality to something more tangible, rather than simply thinking of the words in your head.

I understand this has been pretty rambly and not overly exciting, but its definitely something to thin bout, and if it made you think, then that's all that matters!

Chloé

xo

New York Fashion Week: Elie Saab

Now for those people who aren't into fashion, and more specifically fashion week, this may not be something you're enthralled to read about. For me, as a fashion student, it's an integral part of my course for inspiration and ideas on new trends to aid our assignments and as a general part of research. 

Recently, were were asked to create moodboards on London Fashion Week,which is coming up in the next few days, so for inspiration we looked into New York Fashion Fashion Week, and as it comes to a close this week, it's the perfect time to look for ideas of the next trends for the autumn/winter period. 

The designer who stole my heart from the whole week, was Elie Saab. The Lebanese fashion designer with whimsical designs and intricate embroidery. The extravagant dresses went from beautiful pale shades of blue, yellow and pink to striking grey and black hues. But the dresses that ultimately made an impression, and totally stole the show, were decorated with hundreds of butterflies and flowers, crafted with a gorgeous intricacy. Many of the other dresses were detailed with tiny feathers, giving them movement and life. 

This show was truly breath-taking, yet so unusual and unique- it was definitely my favourite and will stay in my mind for a long time. 

Personally I can sometimes find Fashion Week overwhelming and hard to digest, with so many designers and collections vying for attention, it's hard to know where to even start! Yet the Saab collection was such a pleasure to look at, I could sit all day just watching the amazing dresses being shown, in my opinion, it was a triumph. 

Chloé

xo 

Granny's Vintage Tea Room

Anyone who knows me, knows I love all things vintage, the music, the fashion, the history of the era, it's just so fascinating to me. So, when I went to this beautiful tea room on Friday with my mum, I fell in love.

Granny's Vintage Tea Room is a gorgeous old fashioned little cafe run by a mother-daughter duo, in the small village Todwick, Sheffield. As I live really nearby, I'd driven past and not usually thought much, simply thinking it was just another cafe trying too hard to be 'vintage'. but I was totally wrong! 

The place is decked out in the most lovely old fashioned furniture and crockery all around, with pictures and other items such as radios making an addition. It's such a nice spot for some afternoon tea, or for lunch like me and mum went for.

Although it was just a cafe, there actually seemed to be a lot of choice in terms of the menu, with a vast choice of sandwiches, toasties, jacket potatoes and salads so there's definitely something for every taste, all the food is home-made too which made it even nicer! I went for the mozzarella and pepper toasted sandwich and mum went for a tuna mayo which got a thumbs up from her, as for mine it was lovely and I'd definitely have it again. 

We then got a pot of tea to have with scones which was delicious and a great end to the meal, and although we seemed to have quite a lot all the food was really light which meant you didn't leave in a food coma! 

Overall I'd totally recommend this place if you're ever in the area, as its a really quiet and underrated little spot, all in all a fabulous lunch!

Chloé

xo