The making of the fashion shoot 'Day Tripping'

Last weekend after jumping through several hoops I managed to gather a photographer, a model, a make-up artist, two stylists and some muscle men to help create a fashion photo shoot for a project as part of my class work.

The 6 page shoot is intended as a supplement for Farmers Weekly! I love writing that, the link between farming and fashion is rather tenuous at the best of times (anything waxed, rubber or wipeable, not to be confused with the porn industry!) and yet we have noticed it cropping up into our everyday fashion. Whether it is the yummy mummy's of West London in their Hunter Wellies and gilets marching darling little Sebastian about Primrose Hill or the cool kids of Brick lane wearing tweed shooting jackets and flat caps while trying to indifferently look like they have some purpose.

My supplement taps into this interest but it is for the youth of rural England and young farmers. If you are not aware of a young farmers way of life, allow me to introduce you to John*, we met at a farmers wedding. He- monobrow, cider belly, ruddy cheeks, a penchant for girls aloud, and a large milking herd, me- agog at the brow and scared at being propositioned. My dad nearly had me married off to this one. Don't think you're forgiven.

My research has shown that these rural communities encourage high levels of depression from the isolation and the all consuming work of farming. Therefore my solution is fashion! and also travelling, dating and news, a lifeline of popular culture in a few glossy pages. Ta-daa!

The shoot is 'Day Tripping' and its theme is country chic with a twist of feminine everyday style. It was shot in Ally Pally park and these are a few amateur pics I took, the finished ones I will pop up later.

Katie in make-up.

Alexis doing Katie's sun kissed look: alexismday@yahoo.co.uk

Katie wearing vintage Aquascutum jacket, boyfriend ripped t-shirt, denim shorts and tasseled suede boots. (all charity shop)Floral maxi from Debenhams sample sale (20p! Thank you Pip!) Lace gloves vintage.

Traffic People white chiffon blouse, H&M Bubble skirt, Hunter Wellies.

* I used a fake name. You never know when a rich farmer in want of a wife might come in handy!

J'adore les fleures

Yes British weather is world renowned for being ridiculously temperamental. We have to layer up our clothing for hailstones to blistering balmy sun and endure lithe tanned Europeans laughing at us as soon as a smidge of sun pops out and we are all pink, semi-naked and developing sunstroke.

However the sun doing all that in out in out shake it all about business does make a good recipe for the classic ditzy riot of colour that is the English countryside of blue forget-me-nots, white cowslips and yellow daffs. It is a delightful change of colour after the black of Londoners fashion and the black of the tube, even bogeys here are black!

I have flowers in jam jars, in my hair and on the prints of my dresses. I also find greenfly floating in my cups of tea, flys under glasses (its the legs, it's unnatural to have so many legs, I can't just shoo them out the window) and house spiders on curtains, but they are worth it.

Taken in Alexandra Park.

Wibble wobble wibble wobble jelly on a plate

For the past few weeks the luke warm sunshine that has been filtering through my curtains and blindingly waking me up at an anti social hour of 6.30am has actually prodded me into doing some exercise.

Learning how to stay alive during the months of enduring cold (I'm not being melodramatic, I'm from Somerset and it was bloody freezing with our record breaking winter!) involved a lot of baking of classic British puds. The apple crumble was successful unlike the stint at making toffee, which just ended up as a tray of stubbornly un-solid gloop which Dave (housemate) likened to what his bum produces after a heavy night out. appetising.

However the carbs and the sugar have happily settled around my tum to merrily jiggle when I walk, run or laugh almost in a jolly Santa belly shaking fashion (hopefully exaggerated in my mind but is a good-bad-warped incentive to do something about it)

First I tried running, jogging or yogging with a soft 'y' (sorry for the Anchorman quip!) but other then being thoroughly knackering, I just sort of felt stupid in my non Nike trainers and lack of i-pod to distract me from my red to the point of self combusting purple blob that had replaced my head.

So then I tried my sister's work out dvd, some sort of class of perma tanned, day glow grinning, lycra encased bevy of beauties Eric Prydz would have hired on the spot. Yet conversely because there wasn't an audience I couldn't be bothered to finish what I'd started. The mystery of my exercise problem was getting cryptically Goffmanesque in its roots.

And then I found this 1950s perfect bikini in Primark (I know I've gone over to the dark side...but then if Nike can reform after all they exploited out in the sweat shops of the 90's then surely Primark has a conscience...maybe) The version I bought has heart detailed buttons and combined with the ditsy print it is just right for the public swimming pool and the support of the top stops it letting your, er, inflatables float free! Not only is this lovely piece of lycra a bit of old Hollywood glamour on a budget, but it shall be my incentive to swim, tone up and be more hair free in all the right places!

It's not really suprising that I'm hooked on mybigwardrobe.com when my shopping psyche is this commercially brainwashed...sigh!

Floral prints, granny chic, imperial mints, tory bashing freak...

This was how my thought pattern was running this weekend, very spasmodic and just bit confused!

I met up with the family outside of London, in the valley of the Rar and O.K Yar in Oxford. Perhaps to anyone who is not familiar with the British class system might like a swift, biting and oh-so-very tongue in cheek definition of a 'rar' or an 'O.K Yar'.

Also known as a Sloane in the 80s, they are children of upper class descent who favour the following shops; Jack Wills, Abercrombie&Fitch, Ralph Lauren, Fat Face, and White Stuff. Both sexes enjoy any form of rugby shirt which the female sex accompany stylishly with a pashmina and gravity defying back brushed hair ,whereas the male sex invariably wear with boating shoes or flip flops regardless of the seasons. The term 'rar' and 'O.K yar' refers to the loud braying noises often emitted from them into i-phones or across pubs to each other as a form of communication.

As arrogant as a chav playing their latest Ndubz tune on their phone discerningly combined with the correct use of the Queen's English, the 'rar' is both feared, loved and loathed throughout Britain. However the females technical approach to vah-vhooming hair and appearing girly in a totally indifferent manner I can admire and is most definitely inspiring my style right now.

This weekend I came across another sector of Tory voters, in fact I was staying in their house at a local B&B near Oxford. As my sister said of the place it was like walking inside a museum of all things kitsch. There were china dolls, toy cars, plates covering the walls, witches hanging from the ceiling and of course a yappy bulgy eyed, runt of the litter rat of a dog, to provide a soundtrack of high pitched barks during our 24 hour visit.

The icing on the cake was the parting opinion, from the seemingly sweet old lady who ran the guest house, which ran along the lines of 'single mothers are the downfall and breakdown of society'. She was Maggie Thatcher in a twin set and pearls.

Politics and snobbery aside, the rar's and the single mother bashing older ladies know how to work some serious style with the older generation matching pastels, florals and lace. It was all suddenly starting to look a bit Luella.

Therefore today I am dressing in honour of the Rar's and the blue rinse brigade with Luella in mind in lace gloves, satin bows, pearls, a spring-like floral dress, red lipstick and vah-vhoomed hair. Though I think I'll leave the un p.c thoughts at home amongst the china dolls and yappy dogs.

Right said Fred

Yesterday the ingenious Fred Butler visited our little class and allowed us into her kaleidoscopic world of toy robots, eye watering colour and her refusal to be defined.
Although Fred is vague about what it is exactly that she does for a living, she can be described through a medley of definitions as a fashion prop stylist or an art director, and she can now add the title of accessories designer with her new S/S 09 range of adaptable origami style pieces. Which of course she was wearing when she arrived, with two geometrical cubic pieces pinned to her head, setting off her white blonde hair.

From her softly spoken voice and polite manner, you wouldn't have expected her to have been so bold as to go to New York on her industry year, as part of her Brighton based degree in fashion, and to seek out some little known designers called 'As Four' and promptly become their first intern. Or to have phoned up Shona Heath, an art director and set designer, to ask her 'just a few questions on a project I was doing. I had to ask her how much she earned! But she did offer me a job after the conversation' and she then worked for Shona for a 18 months, painting plants gold and making giant sweets from cellophane.

Although us students and Penny Martin, ex Show Studio editor in chief, battered her with questions Fred was completely unfazed and at ease. She only became excited when someone nailed her perceptions of her work; how she likes to place the set on the body, tries to get as much humour into her work as possible 'my friend wanted me to put a joint in the photo but I don't think Kickers would have gone for it, but I managed to sneak in a flag with the word cannabis!', and how she loves children's memorabilia.

Explaining her working method and haphazard approach to finding inspiration, she mentioned how she cannot go to the library and just consume visuals or read but has to pick things up, touch stuff and fiddle with everything in order to be intrigued by something.

This intrigue is also surrounding Fred unconsciously as she is many things; a hoarder, a magpie, a tactile touchy-feeley person, an artist, a surrealist, a believer of magical realism, and most definitely unaware of her inspiring others.

Betty Jackson: LFW

These are a few pics I took at the Betty Jackson show this morning, I was late and had to blag my way in hence the poor position I was in!

Jourdan Dunn looking stunning, even when wrapped in felt!

I particularly liked this design with the (faux?) fur stole and the autumnal colours, very austere and country chic.

The Ones to Watch: LFW

London Fashion Week kicked off yesterday and everyone dragging on a cigarette behind dark glasses could be heard muttering about the ridiculous number of kids running about outside the Natural History Museum (it's also half term for school kids)

Yesterday was a monumental day as it was my first fashion show, it was like being the new kid on mufty day at school and worrying if your Kappa popper trousers are cool enough, except in heels and coiffed hair.

The show was 'The Ones to watch' with new designers Lu Flux, Kamiko Watari, Studio_805 and Alice Palmer.

Lu Flux is an ethical designer and works with salvaged and vintage clothes to remake new and original designs. The collection had a very folksy feel about it with wee willy winker style knitted caps, long patchwork smocks for the girls and tweed jackets and trousers for the boys all accompanied with picnic style woven baskets for bags.

Next up was Kamiko with an all womenswear collection which had every model strutting down the runway with over sized bobble hats perched on their heads. cosy! The collection had a sort of childish theme of nighties with Victorian prints or red and blue koala designs on large t-shirt dresses.

The most fashion forward and in your face designs was definitely by Studio_805 who produced a loud unisex collection with dazzle boat patterns of jagged shapes in a limited palette of red and white. Every model had either large lego blocks round their necks as necklaces and huge cubes on their heads matched with censor style placks on their lips. Though this collection was really fun and arresting in its attention seeking designs, it perhaps lacked the quality of a well constructed design which Miss Palmer had in spades.

My favourite of the evening the knitwear designer, Alice Palmer, showed a refreshingly calm collection in subtle shades of grey, cream and moss green with flashes of metallic chrome.
The collection had a feeling of the medieval about it with felt smock dresses livened up with random panels of chain mail style knitted shapes in metallic tones.
All the models wore chain mail knit hats which wouldn't have looked out of place with Arthur of the round table with cut out eyes or hearts at the back.
Structured shoulders were complimented with tinsel-esque brooches and one dress was half cape-half dress with an interesting design of the arm pinned to the body. One armed beings across the country are clamouring for her insightful dresses as you read this!
A beautiful black model (the only black model in the entire show) closed the collection in a stunning floor length felt gown with ruched sides and a low back in charcoal grey, which was lifted with a diamond back section of her trademark chain mail knit.

I then skipped outside to our MA exhibition called 'Mapping Future Fashion' which in collaboration with the V&A's Sackler educational centre was a great success! Cool dance organiser's 'Work it', which is based in Shoreditch and ran by a classmate, provided the DJs and party atmosphere with trendy people hanging about in fluro prints and sequined hair.
All in all a fun start to the biggest event in a fashionista's diary.