Size Zero to Plus Size

Last week I heard one piece of interesting fashion news and one disturbing via my new favourite source, BBC Women's Hour.1) the model Victoire Dauxerre ate only 3 apples a day trying to stay slim to book modelling jobs and 2) a hand full of plus size models on the runway at New York Fashion Week is progress. 
For starters a handful of plus size models at NYFW is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of models walking. Plus, if we're actually calling them plus sized isn't it defeating the object of having them on the runway? These girls basically replicate what real women look like and their size shouldn't even be referred too. These girls Candice Huffine, Ashley Graham and Iskra Lawrence to name a few are very beautiful and are in amazing shape. Shouldn’t these models be chosen to walk the shows on these ground? It’s fantastic to see models of different shapes and sizes on the catwalk but are some designers just choosing plus sized models as a means of adding diversity to their line-up? instead of choosing them for their shape and look. Until these girls are being referred to as regular models then in my opinion little progress has been made. It is however a step forward, but those that can make huge impacts are the designers. These are the individuals who chose to create catwalk designs in such small sizes. It only takes one individual to make the change and hopefully the rest of the fashion industry will follow. That stereotypical model image of being very slim needs to be shunned, it doesn't reflect reality of what regular women look like - unless you are a teenager with an extremely fast metabolism. Which actually many of these models are.
Back to my first story Victoire Dauxerre has revealed in her new book “Size Zero – My life as a disappearing model” that she survived on Pepsi Max and three apples a day to ensure she was picked to walk the shows during fashion week. Dauxerre did get chosen to walk in many major fashion shows including Alexander McQueen, Miu Miu, Dior, Chanel, Balenciaga and Céline. After eight months after first being spotted, Dauxerre became one of the 20 most in-demand models in the world. But instead of being happy, “I was devoid of feelings and thoughts. It was as if I were dead.”She writes. Before long Dauxerre developed an eating disorder which caused several health issues and ultimately she sunk in to a spiral of anorexia. She took laxatives every morning and enemas in the evening desperate to maintain her target weight of seven stone!! “I spent half my life in the toilet, my stomach hurt and I felt like vomiting all the time but at least I didn’t feel hungry anymore,” she writes. In her book Dauxerre claims that her model peers suffered from bulimia and anorexia. The more successful she became the more she despised the modelling world. Victoire is now 24 and has left the modelling industry to pursue a career is acting. Maybe Victoire’s story will start to have a positive impact on the modelling industry. If not, at least her story will inform others of what’s happening in the industry. 

Ph Credit. Tumblr 

How is social media changing our shopping habits?

This week I read a brilliant article on the Nylon Magazine website about how social media is changing our shopping habits. Today's millennial's are not choosing to shop direct from brands and stores instead they're picking up on-trend, new and used items from their favourite Instagram influencers. By the means of marketplace app Depop. 

Nylon explain how it all works “The app’s users follow each other, message each other, and “like” each other’s items for sale in a feed not unlike Instagram’s layout. And, of course, like Instagram, the most influential users—from bloggers and vloggers to celebrities—are the ones racking in hundreds of thousands of likes, as well as sales”.

I was a member of Depop for a short while approximately a year ago, but it wasn't for me. I'm not really an eBay shopper either and to be honest online shopping has always proven difficult.

Depop has 5.5 million users and is an innovative way of selling. Social media is constantly influencing what we wear, either through style inspiration from those we follow or via the advertisements that have slowly appeared on our feed over the last year. 

However, there is pro’s and cons to this new shopping movement. Would buying pre owned goods from our Instagram influencers cost us our individual style? or does it promote re-selling second hand clothes instead of buying new ones? and what impacts might this have on retailers? 

I personally enjoy gaining style inspiration from those I follow on Instagram but I’m not on board with shopping that individual closets. Nylon explain this as “owning a part of their personal brand”, but I also think this means you are owning their individual style whether this be from an up-and-coming fashion brand or a piece of rare vintage. Fashion is about personalising your style and expressing who you are. Buying clothes from our Instagram followers could cause the younger generation to become clones of one another and imitate their style without finding their own. 

I do however think it is important to reuse our second hand clothes and not just dispose of them and this is something Depop promotes. The fast fashion movement of ‘buy in bulk’ is having lasting impacts on the environment and changes need to be made. The younger generation are enjoying shopping from their favourite bloggers and vloggers and this is without a doubt going to impact on high street retailers and brands.

Founder of Depop Simon Beckerman says “I see the future of retail being much more about connecting people together, rather than brands and companies.” From now on retailers will have to find new ways of engaging with customers to ensure sales remain positive. This may be done with brand-sponsored Instagram and Twitter content which builds synchronicity between retailers and social media.

Technology is constantly changing and this is forcing brands and retailers to evolve, if not they might find themselves falling behind in the fashion race. 

Nylon Article http://www.nylon.com/articles/simon-beckerman-depop-interview

Ph Credit aboutfitsdotcom.wordpress.com via Pinterest

Hill and Friends

  

Image Source | Business of Fashion 

 

We all know the authentically British label Mulberry, over the last decade Mulberry has brought us some of the most stylish bags to date. That was all down to Emma Hill aka the women who reinvented Mulberry and made the brand what it is today. 

Last weekend at LFW Emma launched her hotly anticipated handbag collection named 'Hill and Friends' and it did not disappoint. 

The classic mulberry aesthetic she created is seen within the collection but with an element of fun. 

By fun I mean lots of bright colours - hot pink to be precise, bold prints and a post mans lock displaying a winking smiley face to finish. 

These together complement the classic shape and style perfectly.

The launch looked amazing and was held at Claridges. It included super cute mini ponies, pink iced biscuits and hotel bell boys draped in the Hill and Friends collection. 

The most amazing hand bag collection launch to date I would say!

Are skinny jeans bad for our health?

Like many of us I've been wearing skinny jeans for many years, I can actually remember purchasing my first ever pair - I'm talking nearly ten years ago now (I actually wore them on my first date with my current boyfriend). Who knew the style would have lasted this long?
But maybe it's come to the end.... according to today's news SKINNY JEANS ARE BAD FOR OUR HEALTH!!
Everyday something is given a health warning but now our favourite pair of jeans??
Apparently they can cause numb thighs, tingling and, in some severe cases, collapsing with swollen calves.
I have to admit the only side effect I've ever had is blue dyed legs!

According to BBC News 'Skinny jeans can seriously damage muscles and nerves....

A 35-year-old woman had to be cut out of a pair after her calves ballooned in size, the medics said in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
She had spent hours squatting to empty cupboards for a house move in Australia. By evening, her feet were numb and she found it hard to walk.
Doctors believe the woman developed a condition called compartment syndrome, made worse by her skinny jeans.' 

Is this really gonna stop us squeezing into our favourite pair of skinny jeans? I don't think so - but those new flared jeans I purchased last month are looking kinda healthy right now!

So this happened...

Usually Paris Fashion Week finishes with all talk of the Chanel show or Kim and Kanye's front row looks, but not this season. Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson AKA Derek Zoolander and Hansel McDonald wowed the crowds at the Valentino show to promote a second instalment of the movie Zoolander. 

For the last few days my instagram stream has been pretty much overloaded with pictures and videos of these two. They may have pretty much 'broke the internet'!!

Richard Nicoll, decades of fashion and Jack Wills

 

Image Source: i-d.com 

I cant' say I been a avid lover of Jack Wills, I never purchased the famous gillet or queued excitedly for hours in the boxing day sales - I actually thought it might somehow fall off the radar when the nostalgia trend was over (how I was wrong). The brand has recently been brought to my attention as Richard Nicoll (their new creative director) releases his first SS15 collection for the 'preppy British brand'.
"Jack Wills is not just about creating wardrobing for young adults. It's for anybody with a youthful spirit," comments Nicoll, "The clothing can be worn by a wide variety of ages. Mixed together, they create an irreverent image of British youth culture and a celebration of the individual in the gang." (i-d.com)
His collection, released in stores this week makes references to a variety of fashion decades and pop cultures - including, the ever so popular nineties and sixties. Think candy pinks, bright reds and bold stripes mixed with patchwork denim, tweed and leather.

Richard Nicoll has created a collection perfect for the brands loyal followers and those (like me) who knew so little.

Stripe-ing

 

 

       

Image source | style.com

From top left - Louis Vuitton

DKNY

Paul Smith

Yigal Azrouel 

Topshop Unique

Preen

 all SS15 RTW 

As seen in my last outfit post - I'm a fan of stripes! It looks as if we'll be holding on to our favourite print next season and  donning our stripes come SS15.

Yes, that seems many moons away *dashes to put wolly socks on. But before we know we'll be leaving the hats, scarfs and layers behind in place of something much lighter. 

The SS15 catwalks paraded stripes in every way possible. I personally love the A-line patent stripes at Louis Vuitton and the high waisted trousers at Topshop Unique. 

Lets get stripe-ing!! (see what I did there).  

Whistles Autumn Winter 2014 | Lookbook

 

Image Source | whistles.com

 Whistles - Never getting it wrong. 

The Whistles A|W14 collection consists of beautiful silhouettes in beautiful fabrics. I'll let the collection do the rest of the talking.

'Shock and awe' or dare we say fashion?

 

Saint Laurent Paris advertising campaign | March Vanity Fair  

Image source | Mail Online 

This image shocked me to say the least. Yes we all know fashion models are thin, but is this for a truly justifiable reason? I've always seen them as (beautiful) coat hangers that present us with amazing designs both on the catwalk and on the pages of our favourite monthly glossy. But what is too thin? Dare we even ask this question for fear of being perceived as judgemental? I myself am what society might call a curvy size 12. Yes I have been slimmer; back when I was eighteen and hard living hadn't truly hit me. I'm always saying I want to lose weight, thinking this will make me happy, but will it? In the short term I think it will. Cramming healthy eating and exercise into my daily routine seems like the way forward, but even then the pounds don't just magically drop off (even if I want them to). We may say the model in this image is 'anorexic' she certainly doesn't look very healthy. But some individuals say they are naturally slim, I'm guessing this comes down to genetics. They see themselves as lean, athletic and that's fine but I'm not sure this can be said of the girl in this image.

Should we be flaunting these ultra skinny women all over the pages of fashion magazines, we may not know but they do have a subconscious effect on us and if us, what are they doing for the confidence and self-esteem of a younger generation. Shouldn't we be saying 'hey, if your happy and healthy that's all that matters.' On another note becoming 'body confident' is something that comes with age. I'm not sure I'm at that time in my life yet - ask me in 10 years time. Images like this seem to surface every couple of years and I'm sure they will continue to and be debated over again and again. I would like to think things may change but I'm not sure they will. I think it could be for 'shock and awe' or even dare we say 'fashion'....at its most extreme!

So is putting luxury garments on models that may be perceived as 'Anorexic' fashion? Is it even morally right? I will leave those questions in your hands.

Others debate the issue at the Mail Online here.

All talks of M&S

Image Source | theguardian.com

Is an advertising campaign featuring familiar faces for women of all ages the way forward for M&S?

Marks and Spencer have recently launched their new Leading Ladies campaign and theirs some new faces including Rita Ora, Annie Lennox and Emma Thomson to name a few. Yes I said Rita Ora! Someone you wouldn't normally associate with M&S. She's rather hot property at the moment but I wouldn't say shes brand appropriate, however it could have a positive impact on the retail brand. Their target audience is women aged 30 and over, so I'm guessing Ora could bring M&S that much needed younger customer. All these ladies are successful within their own right and could be empowering to young women around the UK.

"Our spring/summer campaign is a celebration of style and accomplishment," said Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, M&S executive director of marketing and business development. "These dynamic leading ladies represent the unique and diverse women of a modern Britain. They are united in their extraordinary achievements but confident in their differences. Marks & Spencer is a democratic brand that is relevant to women of all ages and strands of life; it is therefore natural for M&S to celebrate women in this way. M&S is extremely proud to have convened such an extraordinary group of exceptional women; this campaign is the embodiment of true British style, quality, diversity and success." (vogue.co.uk, 2014)

M&S do have a lot to offer a younger consumer, including great Limited Edition and Autograph collections plus the Rosie Huntington Whitley underwear range. 

I myself happen to like M&S (mainly for the Limited Edition collections), but in recent years the collections have become disappointing. But after a recent visit to the Leeds store I saw what could be their best collection yet. The S|S 14 collection showed beautiful silhouettes in bright colours and prints, accessorized with statement shoes and  jewellery.

My sister recently purchased the most beautiful handbag from the Autograph collection. It's a simple yet classic piece but with added details. It has beautiful black leather and a strap that can be lengthened and shortened depending on what style you are keeping that day.  I loved it so much I had to take a few photographs with my camera. 

P.S The lovely Rachel Khoo from The Little Paris Kitchen also stars in the Leading Ladies campaign. Rachel cooks for diners in her tiny Parisian apartment, take a peak at what could be the cutest cooking programme ever here.