TOPSHOP OXFORD STREET *VINTAGE FINDS* AMONGST OTHER THINGS...

Today I visited the beautiful Topshop Oxford Street in search of new work clothes.

It has been just over a year since I last ventured to the store, and this visit did not disappoint.

The previous issue of Vogue UK interviewed students from St Martin's and one student had the most extravagant dress with a feather rimmed collar. Since seeing this dress I have been determined to do some D.I.Y on some of my clothes to revamp my wardrobe. I planned to sew on various feathers and embellishment to achieve this.
Since buying some new clothes from Topshop Oxford St, I feel that I no longer have to do this.

I immediately follow the escalator downstairs to find the more quirky and original garments as believe it or not, I find Topshop's quality of their clothing as a brand, disappointing. I enjoy looking at their sub-brands for better quality finishes and more unusual styles.

It was downstairs that I found these items and after queuing for what seemed like forever to try a dozen outfits on, I narrowed in town to these finals (Keeping in mind that even though I could afford to buy more, I wanted to look forward to being able to buy atleast one piece of clothing every weekend as a treat. Whether this be from Topshop, Urban Outfitters or a Vintage store in Covent Garden)

I love my white jelly shoes!

xoxo

LDN SO FAR...

Hi everyone,

Apologies for lack of blog posts, but as you can imagine, things have been CRAZY recently.

That is me officially 1 week into my internship now. (I worked Monday till Thursday and have today off as it is "Good Friday")

So far so good, I am absolutely loving my internship despite the workload being heavy and very tiring. I have seen some beautiful creations and met wonderful people and I like to thing that as each day progresses I am improving and becoming quicker at what I do.

I love my accommodation also. I feel that where I live plays a major factor in my state of well being here. For those of you that do not know, I lived in the Halls Of Residence in Galashiels for 6 months and I cannot stress enough how horrific they were. Pretty much non existent "Wi-Fi", shoe box sized rooms, sharing 2 bathrooms (both leaked dirty toilet water from the block above) between 12 people, sharing the tiniest kitchen between 12 people (fridge space was a major issue), spider egg ridden window panes (with mother spiders inside my room to match) and constant noise due to paper thin walls/ceilings???

My room in London is huuuuuuuuuge. Double bed and an ensuite with loads of counter/storage space. I feel that if I hadn't lived in my Halls Of Residence in Galashiels, I would not be half as appreciative of my current surroundings.

The weather is GORGEOUS. This also contributes to my good mood as I am one that suffers mentally from bad weather. It must be at least 25 degrees today as this was the temperature on Tuesday and it is MUCH hotter today. This means that I can sit outside with my book blissfully when I am bored.

The internet is super fast. I can stream television quickly without any delays and this is a god send compared to Galashiels.

Only problem is I am alone. This was not a problem in Galashiels.

I was invited out over the weekend with a work friend to spend Easter with her, yet I don't want to impose as I feel I've not known her long enough to join her and her friends yet. SO, this Easter, I will be spending it alone for the first time ever. This is why I don't want to sound too romantic about London as I am here to work and I do not know ANYONE in or around London. So sadly, I do not have the luxury of having a second opinion whilst I stroll through Topshop Oxford St.

Today's aims -

• Study for the Mediums and Materials exam coming up. (certainly will fail)
• Start my sketchbook for what I am learning whilst being at my internship
• Get some food.

I am still to scared to venture into the kitchen yet as I do not know the people on my floor quite yet. For dinner so far, I have went to Victoria Station and picked up some sushi to take home. I'm not entirely sure what I will do today, but it will be yummy nonetheless.

xoxo

LDN

Two weeks yesterday, I am venturing to London to fulfil an 8 week internship.

I am so excited at the entire prospect of visiting London. I have visited there many times and I've always felt like I have belonged there. I feel so at home with the town, fashion, culture and general buzz.

I am aware that there will be times when I feel lonely and scared but I aim to preoccupy myself to the maximum to take my mind off of the casual day-to-day worries that will add to my anxiety such as missing my friends/boyfriend/cat etc...

My boyfriend and I are travelling down on the 17th and he's staying with me in my rented flat for a few days to get me started as I am so uncoordinated and I will require not only someone who can understand a map, but someone to lean on whilst I'm still finding my feet.

I have a couple of things I wish to do when I arrive. After watching Lily Allen's Riches To Rags documentary, I have jumped on the inevitable band wagon of people wishing to visit her vintage store in Covent Garden. As a Fashion student, I'd love to visit her shop to unveil if all the hype is true and report back to my friends from University. Not to mention I want some new clothes!
My father and I also went for a divine meal in the "China Town" section of Covent Garden. I wish to return there with my boyfriend for something to eat in the evening time.

These two activities aside, I have no idea what I will do on the weekends to preoccupy myself. When my boyfriend leaves, I imagine in the evening I will be really tired from working and will probably just want to relax in my room with a couple of DVD's. I have also decided to compile a thoughts journal/sketchbook of my experience at my internship. At the weekends however, I predict there will be times where I feel lonely and kind of lost... This is why I am writing this blog.

Does anyone have any ideas of anything I can do that is not costly in my spare time in London? Although I will be interning, I wish to embrace as much fashion/culture in London as possible whilst I am there. I am not entirely familiar with London, therefore I do not where there are nice vintage stores or quirky boutiques... Or even an interesting museum to visit. Any recommendations/ideas would be very much appreciated. I would love to visit some one-off clothing shops or cute coffee bars... I am also keen on doing "tourist-y" activities as long as they are not expensive.

Please someone/anyone reply, any suggestion would be highly valued!

xoxo

BLACKOUT

For our Fashion Communication first year module, we had to create a magazine based on Dazed And Confused magazine.

My group and I decided to devise a music/fashion magazine. As the photographer I shot one fashion story featuring a fictional band and another that was based on a surrealism exhibition I visited in Edinburgh.

I shot these photo's in an old creepy hotel in Galashiels that was pretty much empty. The walls were covered with sickly vintage floral wall paper and stag heads for dramatic impact. At one side of the building however, was a "green house" kind-of room. We decided to shoot the girls in there as it created an eery and uncomfortable vibe. It was bitterly cold, but I loved every second of it.

The concept behind the photographs were that Rona (the predominantly featured model) represented innocence and purity. The other two girls who are wearing black veiled masks represented control, darkness (bad, if you will) and were trying to posses Rona.

Some said it was too "contrived" but I felt it gave our magazine the fashion bitch-slap it needed, considering the previous photoshoot was quite obvious with shooting male models on location and calling it a band photoshoot. I personally think the photoshoot conveys Dazed style effortlessly.

Love or hate it, its interesting.

I like how all elements of the photoshoot came together. The location, lighting, styling, ambiance. For my second photoshoot EVER, I feel that it was a success.

Garments used for "BLACKOUT - FIGHT YOUR INNER DEMONS"

• Rona's jacket created for one of the fourth year students collections.
• Two "evil" models shirts created by two first year students for our surrealism shirt project.

Blog Compliments

Hi everyone,

Still struggling to come to terms with heartifb.com but thank you for your lovely kind comments.

I take pride in the fact that I am unique, and I feel that my blog reflects that.

Any particular posts you like, feel free to comment directly onto my blog. I would also be really really interested if anyone could write me comments either on my heartifb profile or on this blog asking my opinions on any Designers, models, makeup, hairstyles, celebrities, photographers etc. Any inspiration for writing a new blog post would be amazing.

Here are some of my favourite comments I have received so far, thank you everyone for taking the time to look at my blog.

I just wanted to quickly say that I really love your blog and the quirky illustrations. I've seen a lot of blogs on IFB that are full of rubbish, to be quite frank, but now I've actually found one that's quite meaningful and fun to visit :)
Happy blogging!
Camille

Hey
I became a followe of your blog. really nice and interesting.
If u want please follow back
cheers
F

Hello,
I just checked out your blog- you have an interesting take on edgy fashion. I find that many people blog about current trends and vintage thrifts, but it's rare to find this unique side that doesn't get as much attention. Keep it up! I was hoping you could give my blog a look too. Drop me a message if you decide to follow and I'd be glad to follow you back.
And I've always wanted to do a band photoshoot- they always look so fun!
Sincerely,
Sabrina

xoxo

Subway kid, rejoice the truth.

This blog is dedicated to style icon and my heroine... Lady Gaga AKA, Mother Monster.

Since her "Just Dance" days, I have always had a love for Gaga. There was something so unusual yet fresh about her personality. Her clothes soon followed with tight fitting lycra with architectural shoulders and over sized embellishment which then moved on to the Gaga we know today, crazy meat dresses, kermit the frog outfits and machine gun breasts.

It sounds strange, but I am so proud to say that I come from the Lady Gaga generation. I strongly believe that in 30/40 years time, my grandchildren will be listening to vintage Lady Gaga songs. Just as I listen to the likes of Madonna and Blondie today.

Although I do not look to Gaga for clothing inspirations as I could not wear some of the elaborate garments she does, I do constantly look our for her changing hair styles. It is currently her that is inspiring me to grow my hair.

One of my favourite Gaga costumes is the androgynous skeleton-esque get-up she wore in the video for "Born This Way". So Mugler and Knight infused. GENIUS.

Here are some other photo's of Gaga that I love.

Gaga wearing a head piece by Philip Treacy - LOVE.

xoxo

Philip Treacy - LONDON TOWN

It's official...

I have not been this excited in a very very long time...

After a really low past few weeks struggling to cope with stress, the best possible thing that could happen to me has happened. I have been granted an internship at Philip Treacy's head office in London.

The position is 8 weeks long and I start on the 18th of April.

I'm really struggling to get to grips with the whole scenario, but I am so delighted.

My dad and I travelled to London a couple of days ago for my interview and I absolutely loved it. I feel that my heart belongs in London and I want nothing more than to familiarise myself with London as I strongly believe I will move there once I have graduated Heriot Watt University.

I am going to try and blog as often as possible while I am in London considering I have been neglecting my blog for a while due to the challenging work load I have had for University.

Obviously, I will not be revealing any information on what I am doing at my internship, as that would be unprofessional. I would however like to share my thoughts and experiences of London itself with you, as I predict that at times I will be feeling awful, homesick and really really scared... I will rise to the challenge however. I will master the tubes and deal with being scared in my own way... Probably by watching Sex And The City on my laptop or blogging to put my thoughts into perspective.

I'm so nervous, yet so excited.

Please follow my blog during the 8 week duration of my placement. I'd love to share my experience with anyone who is interested.



xoxo