Party Girl

 

Wearing: Meadham Kirchhoff X Topshop dress, vintage petticoat, DIY crown, Nicholas Kirkwood X Meadham Kirchhoff platform shoes.

Just when you thought the silly season had come to an end New Year's Eve rears its ugly head, and I say that as a pessimist and in protest of New Year's resolutions. Ringing in the New Year has never really appealed to me because I've never been invited to any awesome parties or had the opportunity to dress for the occasion. This year isn't any different but my mentality has changed entirely in that I no longer feel overdressed but am content to dress as a means of self-expression. I want the outside to reflect how I feel on the inside so a vibrant and colourful start to 2015 almost felt essential. I really wanted to wear a tacky party hat with this outfit but not only did I not have one on standby in my house I didn't have the right materials to make one either. So instead I'm wearing this DIY crown I made yonks ago but it doesn't feel the same. Someone should make me a party hat so this terrible tragedy doesn't ever happen OK?

Invaluable, are an online marketplace for rings and watches, antiques and collectibles who also ran a style campaign which I was apart of. The challenge was to create the ultimate party outfit inspired by one of their rings. Of course half the fun was scanning through their online catalog to find the perfect ring and source of inspiration for my outfit and I was not disappointed with their selection and wide variety of ring styles and price ranges. In the end I settled on a sparkly pink tourmaline, surrounded by diamonds in white gold. This outfit was also inspired in part by Molly Goddard's most recent collection but I think it is suitably party themed and I'm ready to ring in the New Year. See you all in 2015!

*This is a style challenge post

Molly Goddard Spring 2015

Young British designer Molly Goddard introduced her Spring collection as “The pre-collection to the next collection,” Goddard's sweet sixteen-inspired was illuminated by brightly coloured balloons and an array of voluminous dresses. Rather than show off her wares in a conventional way models like a bunch of rebellious teenagers spike punch and smoke cigarettes in the lounge with the adults resigned to the next room. Following the success of her graduate collection inspired by her own baby clothes Goddard has aged considerably and entered into her teen phase. This is of course evoked by the sheer volumes of taffeta used in order to create what has been called 'the ultimate party wear' by Dazed Digital. There's a real sense that these young women are on the cusp of adulthood when in actuality they are grownups who are reliving some of the finest and most cringe-worthy moments of teendom. I couldn't be more jealous or fascinated with this hauntingly realistic world Goddard has fashioned out of thin air.

It seems that this was also a family project with Goddard's sister Alice accessorising the models with everything from plastic cameras to band shirts and piercings to deliver the ultimate statement of bitter sweet teen angst. It confirms what we've always known- that every birthday party even the imagined ones inevitably involve some sort of input from the family. In shades of periwinkle, pink and grey each dress was embellished in some form or another with frills along the bustier or waistline. Not to accentuate but to create a ballooned silhouette and further impress upon the awkward nature of a teenager's experimental sense of style. “It’s that awkward party dress thing where someone sits down and the dress is like ‘poof’. It pushes up above their shoulders because it’s just so full and ill-fitting. Obviously I didn’t want to make them ugly, but it’s like your ultimate party dress. It’s that whole thing of getting ready for the party,” she declares. 

*Images via Dazed Digital, photography by Philip Trengove

Doll Valley

It's been a while since I made a moodboard using my computer, rather than my bare hands and scissors and glue but I feel like with the Internet now everything is moving too quick. There are so many different aesthetics all competing for our attention that it's difficult to make a cohesive, unified blog post of images. Without a theme or colour scheme it doesn't scheme poignant or like a worthwhile endeavor. What point am I making? What am I trying to say? The spread of information and consumption of an idea is so rapid the last decade has lost its ability to generate a trend or fad. It's almost getting to the point where it's exhausting to figure out and reconcile so many different images, photographs and lighting. For this reason I don't attempt to make moodboards during the semester. I get tired just thinking about what it is I'm supposed to be learning let alone this whole other framework of thinking.

But I've realised most of the time when I make a moodboard it has nothing to do with trends at all. I read a lot of old fashion magazines because I like the way they articulate and analyze a collection or trend rather than the trend itself. These moodboards are specific to me and record what I was feeling at the time and if other people can relate to them then that's great. If they don't that doesn't bother me in the slightest. So rather than talk about this moodboard specifically it was easier for me to discuss them in general.

1- Kendall Jenner By Ben Toms For Dazed Winter 2014. 2b- The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). 3- office shoes for refinery29, styled by priscilla jeong. 4c- Poppy Okotcha. 5a- The Finale for Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton SS 2014, b- Pride and Prejudice (2005), c. 7a- Sasha at Emporio Armani Fall 2012. 9- Jing Wen at Marc Jacobs FW14. 10c- Kids (1995). 11- Petra Collins. 12a & b- Lily McMenamy photographed by Alessio Boni for Document Journal #4. 8, 10b & 13- Almost Famous (2000).
2c, 4a, b-LIFE and Civil Rights: Segregation in 1956 South Carolina, photographs by Margaret Bourke-White. 2a, 6, 7b, 10a, 14a, b- Alex Prager For Garage Magazine.

Save Meadham Kirchhoff

Christmas has come and gone for another year and for the most part it went off without a hitch- my family exchanged gifts and then my dad slaved away cooking an amazing Christmas lunch. We all ate too much, indulged in drink and were too tired for anything else. There wasn't a whole lot of 'family time' so I was able to do some important things like enroll in courses for my honours program, as well as recharge my batteries by listening to some podcasts about blogging. That lead me to create a twitter account (and I have absolutely no idea what I am doing...) and discover through following various accounts that there had been rumor that Meadham Kirchhoff who I've written about on numerous occasions on this blog, wouldn't be showing at London Fashion Week next season. Since then a spokesmen from the brand had dispelled fears that Meadham Kirchhoff would not be closing down, but rather that Ben Kirchhoff and Ed Meadham were "figuring out the right way forward". Whatever that means.

So for now they are still scheduled to present their Fall collection for 2015 but for avid fashion followers and bloggers this was a brush with death and bone-chilling news. What's surprising to hear is that they cited a lack of funds as the reason for pulling the plug on what is sure to be an extravagant show and highlight for London Fashion Week. How could this happen? Meadham Kirchhoff have a huge online following, not just in London but around the world. Boys and girls my age who can't afford to buy pieces from their collections fawn over their vision and make moodboards as a kind of shrine or testimonial of our love. The sample sails stuffed with archive pieces are the stuff dreams are made of (alas I am stuck on the other side of the world in Melbourne, Australia) and some of the pieces created for their Topshop collaborations sold out in minutes.

How is it possible that a brand as creative and much-loved as Meadham Kirchhoff could struggle to find the funds for a runway show? It's sadly a reflection on the realities of the fashion industry in which creatives still play second fiddle to brands like Abercrombie & Fitch. I know I can't equate two brands with different marketing techniques and business models but it makes me blood boil seeing so many basic pieces churned out season upon season, some of which ends up in landfill. We can't do away with clothes. They are a necessity and the armor to human survival. But I question whether supporting commercial companies and immoral CEOs should take precedence over supporting the designers we really love. If you really love a brand buy direct from them. If you can't afford it buy second hand pieces or alternatively a DIY but always reference the original source. We should also buy tickets to see them at London Fashion Week.

All of these things directly benefit the designers and allow them to continue their craft, but that is by no means an assurance of their success. Let this be a wake-up call and much needed reminder to support and cherish all of the designers you love. Their existence is as fragile as a human's life and they are not immune from the harsh realities of today's industry. Please remember to nurture the talents of the fashion industry's best and brightest without which they do not have a future.




1- unknown, all other images Style Bubble in head to toe Meadham Kirchhoff.