SUSHISAMBA

Forgive me for not blogging about this sooner.. 

I recently had the pleasure of dining on one of London's most spectacular rooftop terraces @ Sushisamba, London.

There's been a buzz about this place since before it opened. I'd been desperate to go but either didn't have the money or wasn't in the city. 

Father dearest tried to book a table for my 22nd birthday but the place is notorious for booking up months in advance so naturally the request was denied. We settled for breakfast at Duck & Waffle (one floor above Sushisamba) which was lovely and I got to experience the panoramic views of London from Heron Tower for the first time.

Now you're all familiar with Rosie (Love of Fabulous) who just celebrated her 19th birthday. Well chance would have it that I have two Cancers in my life born on the same day that at certain points in their life have gone by the same name. 

The other Cancer being Haleh aka Rose, Rosalita, Harley, Harls, Khaleh Haleh. 

It was her 22nd birthday and she loves sushi so where better to go for a celebratory birthday lunch.

It was an amazing and scorching summers day, the food was gorgeous and the drinks were even better, I should know, I was WAVED.
Definitely worth a visit and I'll be going back at night because London really is the most beautiful when its all lit up like a Christmas tree :)

Anywaaay, here are the pictures, not many of the view unfortunately, didn't want to look like a bait tourist. 

Happy Birthday my love xxxx

Sol-Angel

So much for my promise of posting a few times a week did I say?

Hey ho!

This is part blog, part disclaimer. I think you need to be made aware of my severe obsession with Miss Solange Knowles.

Its bordering on unhealthy but I really dont care. She is just brilliant.

My iPod died after 6 years of dedication and I haven't bothered to replace it so I rely on YouTube, Soundcloud, TrapDoor and my phone for le tunes.

Of late the only artists I find myself listening to are Frank Ocean, Jessie Ware, Alicia Keys and Solange.

I'm really not a crowd follower / down with the kids, I like to do things in my own time. I could download an album and not listen to it for months because I just dont feel like it yet. Much is the case with these four artists and Solange in particular.

I've always loved her music and listened to her popular tunes, Sandcastle Disco, I Decided, Stillness is the Move, Fuck The Industry and now I've finally gotten round to listening to Sol-Angel and the Hadley Street Dreams album I cant stop.

Being a child of parents born in the 50's, disco and soul music have been a part of my life from the very beginning, so it is refreshing and enjoyable to listen to a modern take on these genres.

It takes a hell of a lot of talent to get the old school vibe right and Solange does it to absolute perfection in her music, her dancing and the way she dresses.


Here are a few of my favourites from her second album...

6 o'clock Blues

Dancing In The Dark

Would've Been The One

ChampagneChroniKnightcap

Cosmic Journey

And a rendition of one of the latest I fell in love with from the very first falsetto note...

London 20...13

I've been living in London for 22 years now and would like to think I've seen most of the city even if just a glimpse.

Most born and bred Londoners would agree that living in such an amazing city we can at times take it for granted and not appreciate the little things in the big city the way a tourist would.

Enter ROSIE!

We arranged to meet up for lunch and kill a few hours as she was going to be passing through London on her way home to Oxford.

Our itinerary was as follows:

- Meet up at the Topshop flagship store
- Walk to Soho for lunch at Little Sicily
- Tapestry - Exhibition of Raul G's recent works of art
- Wander around the shops and pop in on Haleh at work before going home.

We took a few detours in between, I was reluctant at first but I'm so glad we did. It was so much fun :)

Little Sicily

I ordered the Burger Siciliano with fries, coleslaw, salad and a glass of red wine. Nothing spectacular but for £6 (shout out to Wowcher for the hook up) I'm really not about to complain. 

Raul G @ Tapestry

Just some of the beautiful pieces of work on display

So the aforementioned detour involved a bit of wandering around Chinatown, spotting Tony Hirst (Paul from Corrie) having lunch in Soho #excitement, experiencing the sexiest but most complicated to get into carbonated lychee flavoured drink and a visit to M&M's world.

Ramune Carbonated Soft Drinks

Rosie is a child at heart, its what I love about her, so she pretty much had to drag me to M&M's World and thank goodness she did. Not only did I buy myself a ton of chocolate but I got to fulfil one of the childhood experiences I always missed out on.

I found stickers WITH MY NAME ON THEM.

Rosie understands my struggle. All our lives we were subjected to finding either Rose or Alice available in gift shops on stickers, pens or key rings, but never our birth names.

It may have been the scent of chocolate that went to my head but I was so ridiculously happy I felt the need for this picture to be taken so I could cherish the memory forever.

My beautiful m&m's

Rosieee

After all the excitement we retired to Leicester Square, people watched whilst munching on our chocolate and gradually made our way home.

Next on my list of tourist attractions are: The London Aquarium, London Zoo, The Tower of London, The Science Museum, LIBERTY (can you believe I've never been) and Borough Market.


I'll update when I tick them off the list.

xxxx

(Apologies for the images. My sd card memory is full on both phone and camera so until I get a chance to back them up I'm just going to be using Google images or other peoples photos) 

Back at it again

Haiii y'all.

I'm back. Hoorah.

Now that the pressure of securing a 2:1 for my blog content is over I can be free to be my true self and blog about all things that interest and amaze me.

I caught up with my homegirl Rosie last week and she's inspired me to start blogging again. I've not mentioned her before so be sure to check out her blog, Love of Fabulous (loveoffabulous.blogspot.co.uk)


I will make a concerted effort to blog at least twice a week reviewing or just ranting about fashion, beauty, film, music, art, celebrities, current events, ootd/ootn's, hauls, basically everything.

Thats all for now.

Enjoy xxxx

Androgyny Styling Board

This is my final styling board for Androgyny.


I do like the board and as you can see I was influenced by one of the boards I blogged about before for the style. I think it could have been developed further and the pictures could have been edited so the lighting was the same throughout.

I feel I targeted key elements of the trend with the styling. Leather was the main component in each outfit and I think it gives a tough edge to the otherwise slightly feminine outfits.

Body language was very important to me and the poses Naomi did for the shoot definitely portray attitude and power.

As discussed I used a freehand typography which gives the board a retro feel, like its been written in an old diary.

The neon brights in the colour palette are displayed in the accessories and in beauty, with her nails.

Hair and make up didn't go exactly as planned. The colours should have been more vibrant but I edited one of the images in Photoshop to show what the desired look was. A very extreme 80's look.

The target market for this trend would most likely be late 20's to late 30's women who are confident and comfortable in their own bodies enough to dress like a man if they want to. The era would also speak to them because it would remind them of their youth.

Exotic Print Styling Board

This is my final Styling board for Exotic Print.

I'm very pleased with how the shoot went and the outfits that were created.

The way I have laid out my styling board complements the style of my trend board well so in that way I think it has been successful.

I've incorporated all the things I wanted to for this shoot. I have prints from both south american influence and african influence. The colours are vibrant and in line with my colour palette.

Headwear was another focus of my trend and that has been executed well with floral a floral hairband in the style of Frida Kahlo with a braided halo. Ive also included a kaleidoscopic headscarf featuring key colours neon green and yellow.


I feel that the target market for this look would be young females under 30 who aren't afraid of experimenting with colour and print. Probably those who are well travelled and enjoy displaying an exotic look. I also think this trend could become popular in the 2014 festival season because of the fresh faced beauty, effortless hair and lightweight clothing.

I opted for skirts and shorts and lightweight trousers because it is a summer look and it would need to be comfortable if worn in SS14.

Styling shoot results (Androgyny)

A few outtakes from the Androgyny styling shoot. 

I feel the shoot went well. I didn't have as much money to allocate to styling due to doing the Exotic Print shoot the day before so we worked mainly with what myself and Naomi had in our wardrobes, a few bought pieces and other things borrowed from friends. 

I didn't get as many shots as I'd have liked as the weather wasn't great and I don't think Naomi felt entirely comfortable doing lots of different poses as people were walking past to get in and out of halls but the ones I did get I'm happy with. 

I focused quite heavily on body language because the styling was androgynous but the heels made some of the outfits very feminine and playful so I thought slouching and having her hands on her waist would give a look of dominance and control which are themes that work well with androgyny.

Styling shoot results (Exotic Print)

Images I didnt use in my Exotic Print styling board. 

This shoot went really well. I used the studio room in the university for the first time so it was good to get that technical experience using professional lighting. 

I'm passionate about photography so I felt comfortable getting creative and playing around with different styles and make up looks. 

My friend Haleh modelled for me, I think the pictures came out so well because she is used to me using her as a subject for art related projects therefore she's more comfortable and in tune with my creative direction and knows how to pose in the right way for the camera. 

I went a little bit overboard with the budget for this shoot but it was necessary because she doesn't have any clothes like this and it was a very specific fashion forward look I was trying to create. 

One of my favourite images from the shoot. The top she is wearing is actually on backwards as I wanted to create a more edgy unique look.

Beautiful bold print skirt.

I liked this shot but I felt the others were better at displaying the head wear whereas this is just a nice picture.

I would have liked to have included this image as she's smiling but it doesn't show the outfit enough and her body language looks slightly awkward.

The skirt in this picture was actually my headscarf we wrapped around her to look like a maxi.

My H&M scarf I was talking about in one of my blogs

Styling shoot ideas

I'm heading to the shops today to get the clothing for my styling shoots. Here is what I have planned for both shoots...


STYLING

Androgyny -

Leather. Straight leg trousers. Men's shirt. Fedora. Tie. Platform heels. Band shirts. Neon Accessories. Neon Nails. 80's make up. Short pinned back hair. Doc martens.


Exotic Print -

Aztec prints. Tribal prints. Floral headwear. Neon nails. Headscarf. Skirts & shorts - summer, tropical feel. Neon accessories. Print accessories. Braids. Barefoot. Sandals.


LOCATION

Androgyny -

University halls by the stair case and vents. Gives the feel of coldness and metal which is a good alternative to add that element instead of black and white photography.


Exotic Print -

Studio. Simple background. Possibly colour in photoshop.


LIGHTING

Androgyny -

Natural light. Cold.


Exotic Print -

Studio light. Soft. Summer sunlight.



POSES

Androgyny -

Exotic Print -

Androgyny hair ideas

My model has short natural afro hair so the options we have are limited. 

I don't want to straighten it so I think we're just going to go for short back and sides.

Exotic Print hair ideas

Loose ombre waves. Tucked behind the ear  / Side swept

Floral headwear - Big red and pink flowers.