Tiny Dancer's FASHIONOSOPHY

INTRODUCING TOTA PATSALIDOU

And the introduction to Cyprus fashion begins with Tota Patsalidou, a relatively new designer whose first fashion show for Cyprus Fashion Week I had the chance to watch a while ago. Being a girlie girl, sucker for anything cute and beautiful, I was immediately intrigued by the concept of the whole collection being the lost little girl Alice in Wonderland. The collection itself was a beautiful composition of garments in wearable shapes, soft tones and pastel colours, petal-like details, white tights and fairytale-inspired hair. All those elements contrasted with the electric bold blue, pink and orange of the shoes, but at the same time composing the romantic and playful side of Tota's new collection. Luv luv luv it!

 

 

RACING UP THE MEGAPIXELS SCALE

Just to illustrate how mobile phone pictures don't do CAM designs (or any design by that chance) any justice, here's the latest CAM shopping window, straight out from a 7 megapixel camera. Haroulla, who lives up to her name by making her customers tres "happy", has done it again with this fabulous, shiny, silver-grey, draped dress and thank god this time I had my camera lurking around in my car to take a decent picture. For those wondering how come I haven't put my claws on it, especially since my unfortunate dress hunt a while ago, you should know that I tried to do so but to my dismay the dress was custom made for another lucky customer. Empty-handed I end up once again.

And some blurry, 1.3 megapixel pictures from CAM. It's the 1.3 VS the 7 megapixel race and despite the obvious winner it seems like I 'll just never learn.

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!

 

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!

WHO IS..TIFFANY CAWELL

Every springs sees the return of florals in different forms. Coloured dresses, chiffon skirts stuffed with roses, lily arrangements on the hem of t-shirts, flowered accessories and patterned bags, everyone seems to want a piece of that little magic.

Spring may come once, but Tifanny Cawell seems to be in a constant spring mode all year round. Probably one of the freshed and most unique talents to come out fo Cyprus, Tiffany Cawell mixes together colourful wool and ribbon, and makes some of the happiest, most magical and beautiful bags I have ever seen.

On returning from the UK where she was studying, she turned to bag-making to express the most creative part of herself. Her friends were thrilled and encouraged her to continue with her work. Her bag collection features mainly two types of bags: the small ribbon-pleated clutch bags, the T-bags as they are pronounced, and the larger-sized wooly ones' customized with colourful petal-like ribbons (featured in the photo).

A big fan of John Galliano's strong fashion proposals, Tiffany makes a strong statement herself, and certainly has a lot of future in front of her. I 've also been to her bag exhibition a while ago, but I can't find the pictures I took, and when I do, a big and colourful coverage is coming.

NATAR/YASTROBNIK: THE COLOUR OF GLAMOUR

I am quite thrilled to announce that Natar/Yastrobnik have just set up their own internet site, at last! The website gives you the opportunity to catch a glimpse of their latest creations, get loads of personal info on the designer duo, riffle through several magazine editorials, and get a fine taste of their work, the epitome of luxury for me. I remember trying on one of their dresses, on a hot October day (yes, hot!) when I popped to their shop looking like a state, with messy tangly hair and less than shaved legs, but still putting on the short, multi-coloured, woven number instantly made me feel like a million dollars.

The website gives you the opportunity to get drifted in a world of theatrical drama and the baroque glamour of Natar/Yastrobnik.

The only thing that gives me a bit of a cringe is the "Society Girls" campaign the designer duo did a couple of months ago, a promo photoshoot where four young and very rich women out of the supposedly "elite" of Cyprus, are wearing pieces from their Autumn Winter collection. Definitely a red card, yet I can see why they did this, probably to promote the brand within the "right" circles, among those that can actually afford it, and enhance the element of luxury and glamour. This has sort of put me off, but for the sake of the wonderful dresses I 'll just hush and observe (for the time being, purchases seem rather distant for my poor and battered wallet at the moment) and hopefully my dear eyes wont have to put up with something similar in the future.

THE OTHER CELIA

The Brits may be very justifiably proud of Celia Birtwell but the Greeks are actually quite fond of a Celia of their own. Celia Kritharioti has made it big and is a stong designer name in Greece, and her wedding dresses and gowns are particularly popular among local celebrities. I was quite interested when I spotted her new campaign in the greek edition of Vogue magazine. On first sight, I thought it was the campaign of an international Couture House, yet a few seconds later my eyes fell upon the Celia Critharioti logo. As for the photoshoot and the dresses featured, all the new trends for Spring/Summer 2007 are right there: the metallics, the embellishments, the shorty-short lengths, the neutral colours and the hint of brights. Had I been Celia though, I would have preferred something like chunky platform shoes. Still, I could make a guess and suggest she is trying to differentiate a bit from everything else out there by sticking to the old and faithfull stileto pointy hills.

JOANNA LOUCA: SUCCESS STORY

One of the very first people, the local fashion talents, I wrote about was Joanna Louca. With her woven bags and accessories, and lately her upcoming shoe collection she managed to grab my attention right from the very beginning of my flirt with fashion. But apparently she has not only managed to work her magic with me but also with the international fashion house of Louis Vuitton. I actually hear that Louis Vuitton are looking for new textile designers, and have contacted her. They were actually very interested in her work and they 've already had a meeting in Paris. Fingers crossed, the collaboration will work out just fine, but that means I must be getting my Joanna Louca woven bag any time soon, or else I can predict prices rocketing out of my bank balance calibre.

NATAR / YASTROBNIK

Since starting this blog I feel like I have not complained enough - well, not as much as I should have - on the fashion cycle phenomenon. I have only mentioned it a few times, yet I seem to be consumed with boredom on this apparent lack of new ideas. The new season trends to hit the shops for the summer of 2007 are great but to say that I am completely covered would be a lie, as I am dying to see something different hitting the fashion world. Thus I was delightted to find out fresh talents spring up in the local scene.

The names Demos Natar and Thomas Yastrobnik probably draw a huge questionmark to the rest of you, yet they are becoming increasingly popular in this little side of the world. Personally I consider them to be some of the freshest and most unique talents around at the moment, and the words "absolutely fascinating" is the least I could say of their work. Their creations are glamorous, with theatrical elements and an air of luxury and passion infused upon them. The cutting and the composition of fabrics, the delicate weaving, the beautiful hand-made work, everything seems original and lustful.

I would definetely say their garments are merely just clothes. Pieces of art definetely, little masterpieces, that have a character of their own, and I 'd defy anyone not to see something new and original here. I have spotted their creations on local TV stars and media people, and I can always tell it's them, such a distinctive look their clothes have. Prices aren't on the cheap side though so I should probably start saving up if I intend to make a Natar / Yastrobnik addition to my wardrobe.

Their shop opened just a few months ago but is constantly going strong, and I hear that their venture is slowly expanding, with their clothes also being available in the UK and the Czech Republic. I have actually met the two designers and I have to say that apart from being super-stylish and gorgeous, they were extremely polite, down-to-earth and sweet. One crazy night I stopped by their shop window and started taking pictures like a complete nutter, just to get a sneak preview for the blog. My sight caused a bit of laughter among a group of passers-by who exclaimed  in a funny tone the word "Spies!", on observing my weird antics! Heh! More on the designer duo, with more photos of their work very very soon.