FASHIONOSOPHY

DOING IT BURDA-STYLE

For amateurs like me who have a lot of inspiration yet zero designing and sewing experience, Burdastyle really comes in handy. With a constantly growing pattern database for several types of garments, things look very promising in this little webpage. Some of the actual clothes may look a bit outdated or conservative but they can easily be modified to suit different tastes and styles.

I have already utilized the very simple idea of making a sleep mask. It was actually supposed to be a fun gift, a frilly quite girly one made out of bright fabrics mixed together with satin details, to a male friend leaving for the UK to complete his PhD degree. Shame I did not take photos of this, it was quite funny really and made us both laugh. And now all my friends want one so I promised I would put more masks together using colour and material combinations based upon their characters and personalities. As for the rest of the suggested designs, I will probably be trying a customized edition of the Ellinor blouse and one of the pretty dresses very very soon.

SHOPPING DETOX

Strangely enough, I am trying to get a bit of a shopping-detox at the moment. So I caught myself digging for fabrics at my favourite discount shop, hoping to get into some sort of constructive DIY activity to cover my consumer needs. Still, I get the impression that for once again I have ended up with meters of fabrics that I won't be using, at least for a while, but I seem to get this thrill, the thrill of shopping - even though at a smaller, less body-shivering degree - by the idea that I will be making something to wear.

Still my first real design project, that was actually a customizing one, did not go so well. I got this old white linen top of mine and thought I would change the bust and sew some satin fabric in a different design to make it longer and looser for that oversized look. Apparently, linen and satin do not work so well together and the project was marked a failure. So now I have got all these bags overflowing with fabrics yet no sewing projects on the pipeline. Fanny, my teacher says that's how she started, collecting fabrics, and that I should do loads of designing practice before I actually cut up things so this is quite encouraging. Hm..maybe on second thoughts I should sew back the linen top and add a satin flower detail right in the middle..Let the weekend come for more DIY activity.

LIGHTS, CAM(ERA), ACTION

"Sexy" is the word that gets thrown around a lot when people talk about my style and presence, one thing I certainly can not relate to at the moment when I sweat for more than two hours on a daily basis at the gum and don't even get bothered to fix my hair properly the next morning (I have got very lazy lately). But sexy is all about being comfortable in your own skin, and not necessarily, and mistakenly, be revealing or super-groomed, so there may be the possibility I could have something there! Still, if I had to play up to the sexy role properly, I would do it by choosing to wear CAM.

It just makes me salivate with lust everytime I talk about this shop, and I even catch myself driving around the city in the very late hours of the night just to check out what's on display on the window and plan my purchases. Haroulla (which would mean "happiness" in greek), the shop's designer, studied fashion design in Milan and despite my being so insistent on interviewing her for the blog this was unattainable. Still, I got some useful information on her work. What's really interesting is that she works with no patterns and thus makes garments that are unique and one-of-a-kind. She 's got extremely good taste and it seems like when things dont work out for normal people, she just puts a nifty touch and there it goes, bang, everything looks miraculously well put together.

I have been taking pictures of the shop for a while for the blog and now I believe I have a good selection to display, so enjoy the sexiness and glamour of CAM. And there we go..lights, CAMera, action!

 

THE UNLUCKY EBAY PURCHASE (THAT SORT OF TURNED LUCKY)

Slam shoes and thick stack hills have totally changed my life. They somehow make legs much more slender, are far easier to walk in, and they seem to add a certain twist to an outfit. My passion for pointed stilletos has since then somehow diminished and I have never looked back. And when I spotted a certain distressed gold leather pair on ebay, I was so thrilled and determined to pay whatever spicy price just to be the lucky winner of that secondhand (but only worn-twice) pair. And when a Tiny Dancer decides to fight she gives it all, so after a wicked battle I won.

The shoes arrived about a week and a half later only to turn my enthusiasm into great disappointment. Apparently the person who sold them to me had sprayed them with gold paint, probably to hide marks or dirt. I just couldn't believe I had given all this money and paid more than their retail price plus shipping for that. After a series of messages with the seller I was given a full refund and got to keep the shoes for free as a way of an apology. That was something, and to me the most decent way to tackle the incident. So now I 've got a free pair of slams that don't really look that bad, and I have already been getting a lot of wear out of them. So maybe ebay purchases are a risk to take, but when things go wrong they sometimes turn lucky too.

Ps: The following pictures are not of the pair I won but of another similar pair I tracked down on ebay.

STELLA MCCARTNEY FOR TARGET: THAT DON'T IMPRESS ME MUCH

It all began when Karl Lagerfeld designed a capsule collection for H&M, at least that was the first one of the gang to hit my eyes, and concentrate so much anticipation and interest from the public. When launched, the collection sold out within half an hour, whilst ruthless shoppers jostled to snag limited edition Karl Lagerfeld garments. Everyone wanted a piece of the designer-mastermind minus a few zeros, which meant an affordable fashion-fix for customers and a complete triumph for H&M.

The success sparked up several other designer-highstreet ventures. Next year saw Stella McCartney on the H&M racks, with another sold-out-in-a complete-frenzy collection.

And for the year 2006 Viktor and Rolf gave it a go  and put the H&M tag on their creations with another sold out collection.

Topshop took it's own turn hooking up with more upbeat and upcoming designers like Celia Birtwell, Emma Cook, Marios Schwab, Laura Lees and Christopher Kane giving an alternative route to designer fashion. Since then, collaborations like these seem to have become the new trend (and probably the easiest way for designers to increase their bank balances at the blink of an eye). They now seem to be practically everywere and even more are constantly springing-up: Giles Deacon for New Look, Yovovits - Hawk / Zyhair Murad for Mango, the Designers at Debenhams, Luella Bartley / Paul and Joe for Target, Thakoon, Sophia Kokosalaki / Vivienne Westwood for Nine West, Doo Ri / Thakoon / Rodarte for Gap, just a few I can roughly list. Even celebrities are now entering the high street collaboration mode, with Madonna and Kylie designing lines for H&M, Kelly Brooke and Lily Allen for New Look, as well as the most recent and talked-about Kate Moss for Topshop venture.

So, what is it with all the designer collaborations? It seems like when we have spent our money on one, another is springing up. And in the end what exactly are we buying in terms of original design? Is this the focus of each designer-highstreet collection? Are we buying the quality of designer apparel or are we buying just a name, just "the brand"?

And then, I open up ebay and do a bit of searching and there it is, another one that I had not read nor heard of: Stella McCartney for Target. Stella McCartney seems to be the collaboration favourite indeed. She was voted by the H&M customers in 2005 as the one they 'd most like to get to design a collection for the high steet brand, and has also forged a strong team-up with Adidas for the past couple of years, designing sportswear that I must say are some of the most stylish sportswear gear around. But now another collaboration with giant Aussie Target stores? How did I miss that??

After a brief look at the 42-piece capsule collection, I couldn't help but experience a bit of a deja vu. Supposedly taking inspiration from her own unique signature style (this concept reminds me of another similar venture, well guessed, the H&M one), the collection featured some of Stella's staples: a taffeta trench coat, wool cashmere cardigans, silk camisoles, satin wrap-around dresses, shirts and beaded tunic tops, skinny jeans and tailored suits. As you can easily tell, it is not just the concept but also the actual garments that seem to be similar to her 2005 H&M high-street debut. While I was quite thrilled with the H&M garments 2 years ago, this time around the collection looks rather colourless and boring really, nothing that a shopper would not find in other major retailers and not a single garment in some sort of a challenging design. Been there done that! Sadly, for me, it's basically a "malfunctioned" repetition of the H&M collection yet at a much lower design - standard, too much like what she churned out in two years ago.

Still, fashion-hungry customers, some of whom had queued for more than two and a half hours before the doors of their local Target shops opened, rushed in and stripped racks bare of McCartney items within 10 minutes of opening time. Scenes of utter chaos were described as shoppers were taking clothes off mannequins, stripping off in front of male shoppers in the rush to try on the new range and snap up an item before someone else, and even ripping garments out of each other's hands! Ebay prices also rocketed and Stella McCartney had secured another hit under her belt. So this probably means we may catch her on another such venture? Time will tell, and until then God have mercy on our pockets.

 

OUT FOR COFFEE

I went out for coffee with some friends tonight and thought I 'd seek for my inner angel so I opted for lots of white, which I think contrasts well with my dark hair and fair skin (soon to get really sun-roasted dark!). So I got my white jeans and a white t-shirt with a lovely blue-orientated print from Zara's new collection, and as I like hidden complexities I put the final touches to the outfit with my huge battered-leather gold pumps, a motorcycle cream-beige jacket, two strands of pearls and my wine-red digital DKNY watch, just to give a subtle yet powerful effect to my appearance.

 

THE ODDNESS OF FASHION

As a dresser I 'm not one to say that my style is particularly daring, innovative or experimentive. I often play it on the safe side to avoid any scornful sniffs from the surroundings, as people in small places are rather conservative and less open to new ideas and trends. I quite like edgy outfits and odd combinations of garments and colours but a little bit of the weird looks I could probably get, the potential mocking commentary my outfits could spark, and the reactions of disapprovement around me would break my spirit and smash my self-esteem, so I often wander in safer fashion routes.

Thus, while I admire the personal style choices of people like Susie from StyleBubble and Agatha from Stylebytes, I am not usually one to upturn the conventions.

While riffling through the collection around my local Zara branch quite a while ago (actually that was probably a couple of months ago) I thought I would try and wear a black organza ruffled skirt with a beaded flower on the waist as a short dress.

Still, when I walked out of the fitting room, the shop assistant exclaimed in a funny way trying to suppress a giggle "well..you know..that's a skirt"! She must have thought I looked a state and while I felt sligthly awkward I somehow managed to give a very confident "I know" reply that ceased her. She was probably expecting an embarrassing reaction of realization of my little "fashion-mistake", but my positive and rather confident reply erased her hint of laughter.

That sparked some philosophical thoughts about style. What is it with people being so close-minded with clothes and fashion? Obviously that is not the case for many countries around the world where people are using fashion and style to express their feelings and identity but for Cyprus, I can't really say there is much space for experimantation. It is such a small place, the fashion market is so limited and most women follow the same dress code erasing any diversity in terms of style. I am just so angry at the creation of unfulfillable aspirations and pointless dress-code criteria, the creation of homogeneity and fear of being different. I have always admired people that were comfortable in their own skin and dared to be different by putting on something unusual just because they liked it and felt reflected them. I wish I would have the guts to walk out without leaving negative criticism and comments like this break my spirit.

Ever since, I felt that justice was granted after spotting pictures with different versions of tiered layered dresses that resembled my Zara "dress". Apparently designer houses, such as Gucci and Giambatista Valli, and I share the same taste, meaning that they have brought out their very similar versions of that layered organza skirt / dress, hehe! And a few months later justice was granted once again as Zara got it's own layered designer-inspired dress. You can track down, and wear without fear but loads of confidence, this lovely yellow number at your local Zara branch or online at ebay shop "It's how you wear it"!

 

I' M SO BAGGING IT!

I found this lovely supersized bag that I really had to blog about at my fashion-teacher's shop. It's literally amazing! It is handmade by a girl back in Greece and it's actually an army bag made from really hard faded khaki canvas that has been cut and customized into this beautiful, beautiful design. Awwww.., it's so cute! I particularly love the brightly coloured flower details and the ribbon-wrapped handle. I 've reserved it for a couple of days as I am on a quite tight budget at the moment, but I can't stop thinking about it. It will definitely make my work/beach/shopping/out for coffee/travel-abroad-and-throw-in-hand-luggage days more colourful and stylish.

BIBA-LICIOUS!

Not to be mistaken with 1970s-and-recently-Bella Freud-reincarnated label, Barbara Christofi's Biba is certainly living up to its playful "tiny-cute" name! What I am talking about is the presentation of the summer 2007 collection, for which I had to rearrage everything on my agenda, just to get a Biba-licious taste of Barbara's designs right this afternoon.

Barbara, a Central Saint Martins' graduate, who also counts many years of work experience abroad, may see a blend of sculpture and fashion while focusing upon shape and movement in her creations, but what I also saw today was charm and pure magic. In fact the whole venue and especially the clothes reminded me of some kind of a fairy place, which of course would mean one thing: me like it a-plenty! The collection, composed mainly of skirts and dresses in black and white with a touch of yellow, pink and purple in beautiful details, chiffon bits and paint-splattered interesting prints.

   

What I particularly liked was that the gaments were exhibited by living models who would walk around and try things on. That way buyers could actually get an idea of how everything fitted and sat on the body. It's one thing seeing a garment on the hanger and another thing seeing it on an actual person really.

Time to get Biba-tagged! Here I am getting my own Biba-licious experience. As expected, I had to try things on, and I was quite intrigued by this transparent, light-weight, fairy pink, sort of paint-splattered skirt, and a lovely sack-style dress with organza details. The dress comes in two colours that triggered a dilemma: should I have the black or the white one? A very tough decision to make as despite the similar design each has its own character. Which one would you prefer?

Interesting fact: 1970s Biba and our very own Biba do not only share the same name. Apparently both labels were founded by two Barbaras as well, Barbara Hulanicki for vintage Biba and Barbara Christofi for the Greek edition! Just a coincidence? Or maybe could that be a sign for another huge "Biba" success?? Let's wait and see!

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT

What people normally do at weekends is rest and recharge for the working days to come, yet I always appear to be the exception to the rule. It seems like new things are constantly emerging, new ventures and new projects that leave me with zero free time, and fewer calories from trying to respond to them properly (good for me!). This Sunday was a very busy day once again, meaning I had to work really hard to keep up with my designing classes. So for about seven hours I got designing and trying to make head and tail of the messy jumble of letters in my notebook and figure out how to design skirt patterns. Granny, who is actually a tailor, gave a big helping hand but we still had our disagreements as our concepts of fashion appear to be at a totally different wavelength. Still, her contribution is highly appreciated and without her I would have probably done nothing more than mumble in despair!

Actually this is quite new, I have been taking design classes along with two teenagers who will be taking it further at a more professional level. I am taught by the very sweet Fanny, a fashionable italian who was landed on the island for love (apparently, love is contributing to fashion) and now runs her own very successful workshop/boutique. So what am I doing among proper fashion students? Maybe satisfying another caprice of mine or just being impulsive as I normally am, but I truly and honestly can't wait to wear something that will be totally created by me. Ever since I started these classes, daydreams of myself wearing my can't-find-in-the-mere-mortal-shops beautiful garments have increased dramatically, justified I must say as I will finally be able to make images reality, I hope!