Westfield's 'Big Fashion Wardrobe'

So I get a notification through Facebook on Tuesday from Reiss telling me to come along to this event called Big Fashion Wardrobe at Westfield Shopping Centre in my old home ‘town’, Shepherds Bush. For starters, I appear to be quite a fan of  Reiss at the moment so I am obviously going to see what they are involved in and I wanted to see what was offered to the high street public with regard to Fashion.

So after my Illustration lectures in the morning, I phoned Kate and we headed into West London to see what it was all about.

The first thing I’m going to say (and it’s the only negative) is how unorganised it seemed to be. There were plenty of staff lingering around trying to persuade the public to write their contact details in order to be put into a draw to win £1000 of Westfield Vouchers (of course, I obliged!). We asked 4 different people before we actually knew what was going on and Kate waited for her Make-over.

She had her hair curled by the lovely people at GHD while we nattered about blogging and then headed over to the Make Up Store girls to get all jazzed up ready for her photograph.

Then it was the fun part for me. Quite a few stores got involved with the event including Reiss, Jaeger, Zara, DKNY, French Connection, Ted Baker and (cough) Pauls Boutique. Where do you think I went for Kate’s Dress?

While Kate zipped herself into the beautiful Naomi Dress, I had a chat with the lovely REISS (yep) Sales Assistant and she took me to Jaeger to get some shoes.

The rest of the day included prancing around Westfield looking glamorous in the £195 dress, becoming friendly with the staff and security after we scandalously decided to get onto the catwalk and get them into trouble and sipping Bellini’s whilst waiting for the professional photo to develop.

All for £3 of which goes to charity? There are Fashion shows on Saturday and Sunday so be prepared for it to be busy but you have to get down to Westfield to check it out.

I will Upload the final photograph on Monday.

All photo's taken by Ashley London 

Click here for Kate Moser Miller's Blog

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REISS SS11 Review

Walking around the Market Place branch of Reiss today was a lovely glimpse into my future wardrobe (which will obviously sit in line with my much healthier future wallet) and I can't help but comment on their current Womenswear range. 

Firstly, the key colour palette that they have chosen to display this season is one of my favourites on the High Street at the moment. Their use of neutrals such as Camels, Taupes, Maize and Peach sets a beautifully calm foundation to the statement pieces in the range. The main statement colours feature blues and indigos ranging from Navy to Electric. The combination conjures the image of an exotic dusk coastline with sharp constructions and clean-cut class (try and say that after a few summer cocktails!)

Reiss has had an enormous surge of publicity in recent months with Kate Middleton wearing the infamous white Nanette Dress for the Testino engagement photographs so the pressure to offer the perfect range has been mounting and has clearly paid off. 

In my opinion, the weaker factors in the collection include the entire shoe range and the red Peacock dress. Both display a messy finish and do not complement the flawless majority but you can't have everything, can you? And if you did, where's the thrill in the competition?

Its finally Summer! Treat yourself, for goodness sake!

[1]Click here to visit Reiss Online

AMERICAN TREND UPDATE:

If American 20s is what you are going for with your vintage buys, top it off perfectly with the classic Finger Wave (aka Marcel). John Galliano (although I appreciate reading his name may hurt your eyes at the moment!) showed all the catwalk models with the wave for the Christian Dior RTW Autumn/Winter 2011 show at Paris Fashion Week earlier this month.

   

                                                        

Celebrities have also been flaunting the trend and the photograph below shows a girl we* spotted walking around Soho during London Fashion Week wearing the wave as her main statement.

There are plenty of HOW TO videos all over the web so get finger wavin' for an exceptionally chic finish to your nostalgic outfit.

*"we" - Fiona Bain and I

Image 1 - Marilyn Monroe

Image 2 - Christian Dior RTW at PFW

Image 3 - Street Photo taken by Ashley London and Fiona Bain

The Americans are Coming!

We do love a bit of nostalgia here in the UK which is why Vintage fashion becomes increasingly successful year after year. But before you yawn, I’m not talking English Heritage. For Twenty-Eleven, London fashion looks to the States for its inspiration.

With upcoming movie releases focusing on kitsch American favourites such as Popeye, Wonder Woman and The Smurfs and the launch of 8-Part drama “The Kennedys” starring Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy, the mid-20^th Century stateside vibe is coming from all directions.

You only have to walk around Central London to see that Vintage is moving away from Britsh countryside apparel and taking on a cute and colourful yet glamorous appearance. From speaking to staff at Marshmellow Mountain (a lovely little Vintage shop just off of Carnaby Street), my course-colleague and I were told that there has been a much higher demand for 40s and 50s fashions with hints of American icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Billie Holiday.

Glamour Magazine has also recently published a spread of current stars fashioned on Female American Icons with Alexis Bledel as Rosie the Riveter, Paula Patton as Billie Holiday and Hayden Panettiere as Amelia Earhart.

So you could wear a Decade a day, an Icon a day or just plain mix it all together, either way it’s time to put a Stateside twist on whatever you’re wearing; 20^th Century America is your oyster.

(I’ll keep you updated on this trend as it grows.)

Credits

[1] Glamour Magazine

[2] Marshmellow Mountain 

[3] Teamwork with Course-Colleague - Fiona Bain

Social Revolution or Economic Hole-in-the-Head?

After spending a rainy London Saturday morning walking around Portobello market filled with tourists admiring the vintage bargains, my lovely American friend, Kate and I decided to have a look for a nice Maxi Dress and some day shoes (see what 3 days of British sunshine does to us?!) on Oxford Street. Obviously we knew what would be happening on March 26^th but we hadn’t quite anticipated the enormity and liberating atmosphere that welcomed us.

By 3pm, around 25% of the stores that we walked past had been closed due to damage or disturbance including Boots, Fortnum & Mason, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Aquascutum, Desigual, Apple, Benetton, H&M, BHS and Marks & Spencer with Topshop staff and customers being pelted with Paint, as a Topshop staff member told me after being evacuated from the store.

As you can see from the video, the High Street fashion multiples took a hard punch from today’s protests and as I type this, it carries on. I can’t help feeling disappointed in the High Street’s executives for allowing their businesses to take the hit for their financial issues. If they came forth and honestly defended their actions, it would not only restore some confidence in one of the UK’s biggest industries but motivate the public to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and drag ourselves out of this economic mess by supporting our own economy! On the other hand, the protesters did not seem to have much of a united goal apart from simply protesting. It felt more like a Jubilee street party with a twist (the twist being Riot Police and smoke bombs!) than a revolutionary stand.

Job cuts have happened in ALL industries and if we’re all going to target London Fashion, we might as well just is shoot ourselves in the feet.

Montage Video created by Ashley London

Actual Footage taken by Ashley London 26th March 2011