The Swelle Life

Mid-Century Modern at its Best: Stills from 'A Single Man'

Tom Ford's directorial debut, A Single Man, may have come out nearly three years ago but I've now finally got around to watching it (that's my usual timing), and I'm glad I did. Ford's adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's novel is absolutely gorgeous, and although it's a story worth following closely, it's one of those films you could later watch with the sound down. Especially if you love the mid-century modern aesthetic which personally I go mental for - I had dilated pupils throughout. With beautifully shot scenes capturing with a discerning eye that which we wouldn't usually see, or rather, be shown.

Colin Firth brilliantly portrays George, a British professor living in LA in the 1960s who isn't the funnest guy by nature. He is struggling with the sudden loss of his younger partner, Jim, and we see him preparing to end his life. The film has a few, significant characters who were perfectly cast, particularly the sweet, young student Kenny played by Nicholas Hoult, whose 1960s American accent was so flawless that I began to doubt that it was indeed the English actor.  (Jude Law, take note. That's how it's done. What the heck was that in I ♥ Huckabees?)

I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story. (Don't mind the runny quality of most of the photos, I took them from the TV.)

GEORGE'S HOUSE

George appears as a kind apparition here. It could be taken as foreshadowing, or symbolic of the fact that since Jim's death he's become a ghost of his former self.

Hi-brow story alert! George is sitting on the toilet here, peering at his neighbours between the wooden slats of his beautiful walnut bathroom. Leave it to Tom Ford to make sitting on the can look stylish. That reminds me of something funny that happened to a friend once.  She was in the washroom at work, and you know how when you're on the toilet in a stall you can sometimes see out through the space between the frame? Well, when she was looking out (where else are you going to look?) a co-worker walked in and they actually made eye contact through that 1cm gap. It was really awkward and my friend didn't know what to do, so she smiled and waved. Her coworker did not. Needless to say, she waited until she left to come out!

KENNY

Kenny's friend Lois was played by model Aline Weber who I didn't recognise at first thanks to her Bardot-esque look. She didn't really speak, but she sure did smoke a lot.

CHARLEY

Julianne Moore's Charley was all about full-on glamour - she even brought out the purpley-pink cigarettes when she was dressed up!

JIM

SCENERY

Another model, Jon Kortajarena, who has featured in Tom Ford campaigns, plays an exotic James Dean-type who has a chance meeting with George. This LA parking lot features at both night and daytime with Janet Leigh's Psycho billboard looking on. It seems ominous, but I took it as symbolism for George's eyes opening to the tiny details usually overlooked in daily life, because he knows it's going to be his last day alive. He becomes engrossed in every little thing, and therefore so do we. This is my favourite scene:

GEORGE RUNS INTO THE NEIGHBOUR GIRL AT THE BANK

The head-to-toe turquoise of the girl's outfit with the walnut browns of the bank decor in this scene are gorgeous together. I love the random specifics of the scene. She's holding her pet scorpion in a curious jar which her more-than-likely gay brother - as she innocently insinuates in this scene - decorated with columns to make it into a mini Colosseum in which they watch it kill its prey.

A Single Man is a dreamy film, one that stayed with me which isn't something I can often say. Is there anything Tom Ford can't do?

Artist Series: Pop Fantastic's Susan Canaday Henry

Late last year I received a scrumptious surprise package containing two beautiful art prints from New York-based multi-media graphic artist Susan Canaday Henry. She knew just what to send - one was a lovely pastel-hued scene with a rendering in her own style of Marie Antoinette languishing on a chaise longue. I love the shades of blues, pinks and purples she used and would be happy to live forever in this room. (Especially if I had Ladies in Waiting as seen in the shadows. Oh wait, that would be weird, wouldn't it? I like to get dressed by myself. Maybe one to bring me tea and macarons every afternoon, that would work.)

The other is the Empress Wu Zetian, the only woman in Chinese history to rule as emperor.  The composition is gorgeously coloured in saturated blush, flame hues and crimson. Susan has outfitted her in long, dramatic stripes and an intriguing headdress. Her commanding presence against a backdrop of hazy dawn-lit mountains creates a portrait of power and serenity.

What  struck me first about Susan's works was the harmony of the beautiful colours in each, and what looked to be delicately hand drawn detail and watercolour layering in Marie Antoinette and painterly brushstrokes in  I didn't want Susan to give away any secrets but was curious how she created these images, and lucky for us she was willing to talk about it!

"The drawings all start as pencil/watercolor and then are oomphed digitally--- I think that's what gives them a sort of dreamy look.

"I get a lot of feedback that the colors in my illustrations are very bright, yet nuanced. I don't want to give secrets, but I think the watercolor base gives a weird glow to anything digital, and I aim to make sure you can still see the hand drawn beginnings of my illustrations. I think so much today is too digitized, too clean. I approach Photoshop like makeup: not too heavy, but enough to add distinction. And layer, layer, layer! Add to that a background in traditional animation (I studied a lot of Golden Age Disney, UPA & Warner Brothers at Pratt Institute) and numerous visits to the Metropolitan to gaze at classics... mix it all together, and these are the results. It took a long time to get comfortable with my style because there's a natural inclination to want to produce what is popular, but I've also found that this is what makes me unique, and have learned better to embrace it.

"The Marie Antoinette print really helped me with that. So many people responded to it, that I finally made it available as a print, and it's my best selling image. Marie Antoinette is my favorite, but so is the Empress Wu Zetian. Like many powerful female leaders, she has such a fascinating (and ruthless) story behind her rise. I am hoping to continue the portrait series of Empresses and Queens in the new year."

Susan is such a faceted, talented creative - and she's fun, too! - so  I'll be featuring more of her work on Swelle and talking to her about it.

If you can't wait - and you shouldn't! - see Susan's website Pop Fantastic which showcases her illustration and animation work. I just love her And, Darling...conversations films. Zing!

To see the range of Susan's art prints including Marie Antoinette and Empress Wu Zetian, you can visit her shop on Society 6

Marie Antoinette art print detail by Susan Canaday Henry

Empress Wu Zetian art print by Susan Canaday Henry

Floral Friday: Au Revoir, Francois Lesage

The man responsible for much of the heartbreakingly exquisite beauty of haute couture has died.  Francois Lesage was head of Maison Lesage, the legendary embroidery salon in Paris where rare magic happens. He was 82.

It seems the craft was in his blood. His father, Albert, founded the family firm in 1924 when he bought the atelier of Napoleon III’s embroiderer, Michonet, who had also worked for Charles Frederick Worth. Subsequently Albert married Marie-Louise Favot, an embroidery worker at Vionnet. With that legacy how could he have followed any other path?

Luckily he fell in love with beautifying textiles with threads and beads and has helped keep this highly skilled art alive, through the work of the Maison as seen on the best of haute couture (not without help from Chanel who saved the Maison by buying it), and ensuring new talent is nurtured through his Paris school, Ecole Lesage Atelier de Broderie. What a dream vocation. (A fellow Canadian named Sarah Crowley got her dream and moved to Paris to study at Lesage a few years ago, you can read about her time there and see her own beautiful designs at Glimpse Creations.)

Below is a delight of an interview with Lesage from 1987 from Fashion Television:

Christian Lacroix's exquisiteness was greatly owed to Lesage

Latest from Alice Hawkins: "Museum of Costume"

Click the image to watch the film

(My headlines get less and less imaginative as the years go by.)  I've really been looking forward to this, Alice Hawkins' latest fashion film, from SHOWstudio:

"Created to accompany the Antwerp Fashion Museum's 2011 exhibition 'Dreamsuits: Designs by Nudie Cohn, the Rodeo Tailor', photographer and filmmaker Alice Hawkins lends her unique eye to Cohn's equally unique couture creations, capturing the glittering surfaces of Nudie suits drawn from the collection of Belgian entertainer Bobbejaan Schoepen on fashion film in 'Museum of Costume.'"

Country/Western/Fat Elvis outfits are not really what turns my crank (I guess I'm bringing that phrase back) and neither is the music that is performed while they're being worn. Alice Hawkins' film Musuem of Costume celebrates both, though it is focused on a particular designer and a particular artist of the genre. But her way of capturing her subjects just 'being', as if they are occupying moments outside of time and space as we know it, is always fascinating and mesmerising to me. Her style of highlighting detail with dramatic light and shade, through both flashing cuts and lingering looks, demonstrates her appreciation for the elements as much as the whole of the character, a study that is always a treat to watch. She made me appreciate the couture aspect of a style I would never associate with couture. But the details in the embroidery, textures and fabrics really are exquisite if you can get past the style of the clothes. I say this at the same time I'm thinking how fun it would be if everyone dressed this way.

Alice Hawkins' films are such a hypnotic, sensory experience (the more accurate descriptor would be 'sensual' but I feel weird saying that, like I should be slipping into a candlelit bath in the dark while whispering the word as I stare at you). 

I have to admit, I love this one best with the sound muted. No offence meant to the talented Bobbejaan Schoepen who has an awesome name and wicked car to match. I'd love to be taken for a ride in it with his stereo cranked.

Alice herself makes an appearance:

Cupcake Monday! Coolest Halloween Edition

Cupcake Monday's new love, Arthur & Aleksandra, wins hands down for most original and the coolest of the Halloween cakes. I mean really, how cool is a glass skull vessel with black cherry liqueur to dip your pipette in and drizzle over red velvet sponge and pure white cream cheese frosting? A clever trick and a glorious treat.

If you love what Arthur & Aleksandra are doing (how can you not?) see their first Cupcake Monday feature here and visit their blog. Then prepare to suffer intolerable cravings!

And their brilliant version of the Halloween bat: Rich chocolate sponge topped with a white chocolate and milk chocolate frosting. Embellished with  a dark & white chocolate shard. Dangerous indeed!

Photos courtesy Arthur & Aleksandra

Swelle on Houzz.com: Pastel Mid-century Modern

You may have noticed the widget in the first sidebar that always shows some neat furniture or decor items. It links to my Swelle Ideabooks on Houzz.com, an incredibly inspiring site for endless daydreaming about spaces and the things that make you want to live in them. If you don't already know it, you must visit. You will return, I promise you. 

Since being asked to contribute, I've created five Ideabooks featuring 20 products  each that fall within a theme I've chosen for that month, with my thoughts on how it might work in a space (and I love it!). My fifth collection is Pastel Mid-century Modern, my tied-for-all-time-favourite architectural and interior style. (I think you  know what the other one is, and there are four idea books for that.) The George Nelson sofa is shown in black but colour options are available in your mix of candy and pastel colours which would look like a paint-by-numbers set of paints. Imagine the combinations! 

Each product links to the website where I found it so you can get full details and order. I admit it can be torturous! But it's too dreamy not to indulge.

LFW: Orla Kiely SS12

Orla Kiely brought her girls back after having two-dimensional representations the past two seasons. They rotated on circular platforms to show off the waist-focussed silhouetttes and fresh prints from every angle. I love that you can expect the same thing from Orla Kiely season after season, yet it never feels like 'Oh, that again.' Her shapes are classic, ultra feminine and youthful, but she eludes monotony and overt girliness by using high quality fabrics, thinking through textural details, and creating print graphics that look refined.

There were lots of  clean white cottons amongst the spring colours, my favourite being the coral which was soft and gorgeous and edged in a sheened trim:

 

Orla had ice cream in branded cartons served by a 'cigarette' girl. I had some, of course!

I love this girl, she gave me big smiles with every outfit. Happy clothes!

 Photos © The Swelle Life

Bil Donovan Adorns the New Dior Suite, St. Regis NY

Where do I start...these images are pure joy! I'm humbly grateful to Bil Donovan for sending these to me (plus another tremendous treat further down). This is the new Dior Suite at The St. Regis New York. It's a stunningly decorated suite made spectacular by the presence of a nine by five foot watercolour painting by Bil Donovan who is Dior Beauty's resident artist. The photos alone left me breathless, so I can only imagine how the room feels with such a powerful thing of beauty looking on.

So many important and exquisite details were considered in the decorating of these rooms by Caroline Rippeteau and Bree Dahl that I couldn't bear to simply summarise, so here is the article from the The St. Regis magazine which tells of all the glorious finery:

   

In his painting for the Dior Suite, Bil Donovan has portrayed figures wearing two original Christian Dior dresses, one from Marc Bohan (1960-1989) and the other a creation of Gianfranco Ferré (1989-1997).

 

And Bil gave me a very special gift to share, a fifth painting from the Dior collections that wasn't included in the Suite's original:

 

I interviewed Bil Donovan earlier this year and featured some of his incredibly beautiful paintings, you can read it here

THANK YOU, BIL!!!

Floral Weekend! The Fashion Week Edition

Florals may be a bit of a cliche now, we see them season after season including AW. But I don't care, I love it! There's always a new way to work with them so it's not just another floral dress, like these looks from fashion month which are anything but old and dusty.

Clockwise from top right: Chistopher Kane; Richard Chai Love; Peter Pilotto; Antonio Marras x 2;  Erdem; Kinder Aggugini; Gary Graham.

I cordially invite the Erdem and Kinder Aggugini coats to my wardobe, April 2012 sharp.

LFW: Fred Butler SS12 Teaser

It's going to take me a few more days to edit the rest of the shots I took at Fred Butler's mindblowing SS12 presentation at LFW on Sunday, but I couldn't wait to show one of my favourites - a head piece or hat, lilac-pink (one of the best colours ever) hexagonal sunglasses and fabric earrings that follow through on the sorbet softness of the voluminous scarf/top/jacket (in the full shot it's like a longer bolero style). The fact that I can't quite define it exactly is one of the reasons I love Fred Butler.

More to come!

Photos © The Swelle Life

Floral Friday! Contrasts at Wallington

I went back to Wallington in Northumberland today to photograph their stunning walled garden which I missed when I visited last year. And had I actually known what I was missing I wouldn't never have been able to leave. Last time, I spent a couple of hours in the mansion, particularly in the dollhouse rooms which you can see here and here (I never did post anywhere near what I had altogether, I hope to dig out the rest one day).

These gardens quickly became my new favourite place and I'd love to go back with a picnic and just take it all in without my eyeball pressed against the viewfinder. A serene, huge pond covered in lily pads with baby coots (a black marsh bird) running atop greeted us on the way to the garden gate, and I couldn't pull myself away. (Somewhere my husband is nodding firmly and slowly with eyes glazed over.) Oh! And there was a red and white bed floating in it! Come back next Friday to see what I'm talking about.

To start, here are some of my favourite shots from a small patch in their enormous and breathtaking garden. The gardener seems to have wanted to create a bit of drama and planted a few varieties of vivid flowers with leaves so dark they appeared black. I especially love the first photo, the flowers appear as if they were painted.

 
 
  
 
 
 
 

Photos © The Swelle Life

Interview with Trine Marie Skauen: Making Up the Male Model

Last year I interviewed the fantastically talented makeup artist and art director Trine Marie Skauen (read it here). We saw her candy-spackled eyes, fresh glossy looks and avant-garde creations - but what about the men? Making the male models camera-ready is a bit more of a mystery, and one that you likely won't mind me exploring further!

The Norwegian all-round creative works in tandem with her fashion photograher fiance Marco DiFilippo, and together they travel the world creating extraodinary and beautiful images for magazines, advertising campaigns, video and an array of projects. (I think we've found two nominees for the 'coolest life' award.)

Here Trine answers some questions and gives up a glimpse into what's involved in making up and grooming male models, and what she thinks of it:

How do you approach making up men when you don't want them to look 'made up'?

I would say I work more or less in the same way when approaching ideas for men as I do  girl models. I do research and make mood boards if necessary. If the client wants him to look "natural" then it is more about the skin, making it look fresh, lips not dry, and covering acne and red spots. Then a "messy" styled hair.

Are there many opportunities to do more creative looks on men, especially when the target audience is men? Do men want to see the avant garde in their fashion magazines?

No, I don't think so, the majority of clients want "good looking" men in their campaigns. The differences are mostly if he should be slick, smooth or the urban, messy, cool guy. Like the cool Diesel / Levis guy or the slick Armani guy.

When it comes to magazines, I cannot speak for the men out there, but I believe most men probably like the cool, handsome "normal" guy; they can relate to that type. They probably read GQ, Vanity Fair etc. When it come to the more avant garde magazines like Numero Homme, which I love, the target group is more narrow.

This photo of the 'boy in the bow-tie' prompts the question 'How far do you go with the grooming for a shot where clothes are not the focal point?'

Sometimes I use foundation, creams or also oil, and we go as far as it takes us! It depends on the look. This image is from a test shoot and we just used a some normal cream, if I remember it correctly.

Ok, I'll come right out and ask - did you have to do his armpits?!

This guy actually had his armpits as you see, I did not do any cutting or shaving. We usually ask the agency to tell the models about the body hair. But the request is usually more along the lines of "don't shave for three days."

Or we shave him on set if it's a clean look. I've been lucky with the body hair until now - no clients have asked for shaving or cutting other places then the head! I sometimes have to cut the hair a little bit, but I don't really like that since I am not a hairdresser you know, I don't want to butcher the poor guy!

 
 


Reader Lauren wants to know "How receptive are the guys to having makeup done?"

When it comes to my job and putting makeup on models, they are used to it. They know they have to come to a shoot and just let us do what we want.

But I also see more and more boys using cosmetic products, they just want to look good. If they have acne or red spots they can use some foundation or concealer, some use balm on a dry lip, some use a little powder. Ok, it is not so many of them...yet. The trick is to make it look as "natural" as possible. I also like when men take care of their nails and hands.

Do you have a preference for working with guys or girls in terms of the makeup? And also the behaviour, is one generally more pleasant to work with or is it an individual thing?

The behaviour is individual, but I must say the most fun guys we work with are Brazilian, they are so easy going and fun. Overall, all the boys we have worked with were great, we've never had a problem. Some are just more stiff then others.

As for preference, it depends on the client and the model and project. I like both.

Thanks, Trine! You can learn more about Trine Marie Skauen and Marco DiFilippo's production company and view their work at their website www.tmstudio.me

 

 

All photos by Marco Di Filippo. Makeup and art direction by Trine Marie Skauen

Reflecting on Paris at Lost in Cheeseland

When I was in Paris in April I met up with Philly expat Lindsey from Lost in Cheeseland, a well written and beautifully photographed blog about our favourite and most exhilarating city. During our easy and interesting conversation - the kind that makes two hours feel like 20 minutes and makes you late for dinner in Versailles! - at a cafe on Rue Montorgueil, Lindsey told me she'd like to interview me for Franco File Friday. It's a very popular weekly feature and I was too happy to talk about Paris  and share the company of her wonderfully inspiring previous subjects.

You can read the interview here.  I'll be featuring Lindsey later this summer with my own questions about her (heartbreakingly) covetable life in Paris.

Is it just me, or do you also crave French cheese when you see 'Lost in Cheeseland'?

Cupcake Monday: Sweet Paul Summer Issue is Out!

Just about everything that's great in life is found in Sweet Paul magazine.  Food, colour, beauty, light, surprise and delight - just what you need to create a blissful moment for yourself, or bond with family and friends, in or around your own home. (Though you don't even need to do anything, just looking through Sweet Paul is a massive treat! But you must, and you'll see why.)

New York-based food and interiors stylist Paul Lowe aka Sweet Paul has just launched his summer issue, the 5th and biggest yet at 144 pages filled with mouth-watering recipes, eye-popping interiors and wonderfully creative people sharing their craft, always with a little of the unexpected thrown in and all so gorgeously styled and photographed. This issue was as hungrily anticipated as a dark chocolate donut and strawberry lime float (page 122) on cheat day.

Paul tells me he thinks this is his best issue yet, and I wholeheartedly agree. A fresh new layout debuts as does a print version of Sweet Paul magazine, now available at newsstands in Norway, Paul's home country. Lucky them!

As always, I want to make everything from these pages, but my first crack will have to be one of Paul's incredible summer salads. Have you ever seen potato salad presented so brilliantly? Yes, that is potato salad on the right! Now that is food styling at its finest.

Paul presents his summer brunch menu which includes lobster rolls, Pimm's cups and yet another neat idea for guests' place cards:

I have promised my daughter to make something from the Sweet Paul Soda Fountain story, such a sacrifice:

And a picnic is in order which might look a little like this:

 

I could go on and on and on but best you just go see for yourself!

 All photos from Sweet Paul magazine, summer issue

Versailles Series: Marie Antoinette's Chateau, the Petit Trianon Pt. 2

 

This is the salon in the Petit Trianon, the grandest room in the chateau. Some of the photos are a bit dark; however, the duskiness does convey the hazy, 'frozen in time' feel of the room at that moment. The berry saturated embroidered silk textiles that carry throughout the room complement the pale green and white painted boiseries gorgeously, and serve as a teaser for the more vivid acid hues we're about to see in the Grand Trianon.

If you notice dark smudges in some of the mirrors, fear not, it's no ghost (though that sure would be cool). I could pretend it's a patina belying the age of the 18th century artefacts as  seen in some of the other rooms, but really it's my poor attempt to erase the reflections of the crowd. A big guy in an electric blue t-shirt with a giant Nike swoosh on it kinda blows the scene.

Watch next week for a small but charming bedroom that I can't believe Marie Antoinette slept in, with its own awkwardly placed salon, and her toilet!

You can see the previous posts in the Versailles Series here

 

    
 
 

     
 
 
 
 

   

 
 

Photos © The Swelle Life

Fashion Illustrator Series: Interview with Bil Donovan

Bil Donovan for Christian Dior Beauty

Whether fashion is art is a perpetual topic of debate. Conversely, we'd be hardpressed to find objection to the idea that those who document fashion, in an inspired way, are indeed artists.  Fashion illustrators possess that magical combination of technical skill and provocative flair that is essential in bringing their subject to life.

Bil Donovan is one of today's most accomplished and revered fashion illustrators, and a true artist - deemed so by Christian Dior Beauty who named him their first Artist-in-Residence in 2009. Based in New York, he is also an educator, currently as Assistant Adjunct Professor at the city's prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology where he was once a student; and a fine artist working under the name William Donovan, a pursuit that allows him to engage aspects of his creativity in an expression unique to that of his fashion-focussed  illustrations.

In 2010 Bil published his first book, Advanced Fashion Drawing/Lifestyle Illustration through Laurence King UK. It's a beautiful textbook that "promotes the idea of observation, thinking and selectivity through a series of exercises and demonstrations that explore the concepts of line, shape and composition." For illustrators looking to broaden their perspective, this hugely inspiring and challenging book is a must-have. Bil's introduction alone is of immense value; his story will surprise you.

I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Bil, my favourite fashion illustrator, about his work. I look at his pictures when I want to feel happy or elated; it's something in the combination of his precise, elegant brush strokes and how he chooses and uses colour. I'm drawn to his bright hues, though some of my favourites are mostly monochromatic - Bil is a master at summoning an exhilarating energy with his use of light and transparency and translating the space and proportion of a live event into two dimensions without compromising a shred of its vitality, even taking the beauty to a higher level. I would like to live in Bil's world.

 

DG: First, congratulations and big thanks for your book, a truly original and invigorating approach to fashion illustration instruction. It's hard to believe you were once told you were not a natural and that you should 'rethink your artistic pursuit.'  That professor would prove to be instrumental in shaping your path early on, when you took her advice to 'draw draw draw'.

I think you may be about to change the lives of others yourself by revealing this bit of information in your book - t’s a universal given in our minds that true creative talent is something we're born with, that comes easily. You've proven through your achievements that with insightful guidance and nurturing, anyone with the commitment to be a good illustrator can indeed be one.

Do you feel that without the specific education you received from several extraordinary individuals that you would have eventually found your way to where you are now, or was it absolutely crucial to your success?

BD: I believe that regardless of the degree of talent one person may possess, that individual needs to nurture, perfect and explore that ability through practice as well as understanding the fundamentals related to that field.

It is important to get a different perspective and evaluation of your work through the eyes of another and of course this would occur in a class. I know that studying with a variety of instructors sharpened my thinking and pointed me in the direction of pursuing my personal vision.

Would I have developed my eye, or draftsmanship without that experience?

Absolutely, probably through practice, but each teacher brings a distinct viewpoint and perspective to a class and those factors influenced my perception of drawing and nurtured my style.

I love the theatrics of a circle of easels occupied by artists surrounding a model perched on a model stand. Imagine this arena energized by the presence of an instructor who circles around the room pushing, encouraging, inspiring and challenging you to see, think and create work in a different light…the energy is palpable and courses through your body pulsing through your veins into your hand holding the pencil onto the paper…There is nothing like that. I’m still addicted and still take classes.

DG: The fact that you’re still taking classes will either be reassuring to young illustrators or totally intimidating! Then again, learning is a life-long process.  

Do you prefer the easel circle to the live event? Does the spontaneity of the live event force you to adapt your style?

BD: Each is unique. The studio setting is a more controlled environment and the energy is generated through the model, the instructor and of course the other artists present. If I create work alone at my studio then the energy is collaboration between the model and me.

Live events have a kinetic energy generated by the state of flux. You have no control of the surroundings and events occurring and it is great to allow that spontaneity to filter into the work. You have to be in the moment and constantly edit and adapt your process, rather than style to meet the challenge. There is no room for preciousness.
In September Ralph Rucci invited me to document his Spring 2011 collection and it was exhilarating to witness his brilliance and world; to capture that experience as models floated by in these gorgeous creations, for the press, editors, buyers and privileged guests…it was an Ahhhh moment and everyone took a pause at the beauty of his collection, they actually gasped, but I had no time or I would have missed it.
I had to let go and just trust that the essence of that moment would rise to the surface.

At Chado Ralph Rucci, New York Fashion Week, September 2010

DG: You conveyed the structure, textures and lightness of the Chado Ralph Rucci collection beautifully. We love to look at fashion drawings and paintings; they go even further in creating that ideal world, the fantasy, and capturing the essence of a collection than the fashion show itself. They can be so enchanting.

So why isn’t illustration a more regular part of documenting fashion today, alongside the photograph? Fashion week is typically fed to us through a singular view – there’s the catwalk and the wall of photographers at the end of it snapping the models in identical poses without facial expression. We could use a more fanciful narrative!

BD: Amen! I wish I had the answer to that question. And those who are in a position to choose the editorial content and create the narrative could best answer it. The fashion world is a business, and the editorial and advertorial markets revolving around that world must promote an image that meets the demands of a particular audience in order to thrive. However, I believe that this audience is underestimated in their ability to appreciate an illustrated narrative over a photo-realistic one. It is also the responsibility of the illustrator to reinvent the genre of fashion illustration with energy and concept to seduce the eye and capture the attention of a new audience.

DG: During a discussion earlier this year between Imran Amed from The Business of Fashion and Nick Knight for BoB’s series Fashion Pioneers, Nick declared, “I think photography is dead” upon reflection of the notion that as a medium it can’t evolve. He also downplayed the importance of the printed medium and claimed that ‘fashion will be shaped by the internet’, an idea which was supported by the massive public response to McQueen’s live streamed Plato’s Atlantis in 2009.

As an artist who also documents fashion and the curator of the January's exhibition Fashion Illustration: Visual Poetry, do you see a unified movement amongst fashion illustrators toward the use of specific technologies to create both the art and the means of access? How does the concept of evolution apply to the classic art form of fashion illustration, and it is imperative that the genre evolve in order to be influential in shaping fashion?

BD: All art has to evolve, high, low, commercial or fine and Fashion Illustration is no exception. Technology nurtures that evolution by providing a creative arena for exploring possibilities beyond our imagination.

We are witnessing Video, Animation, Drawing Painting, Photography, Performance and Music accompanies one another and move beyond the printed page. That’s entertainment!!!

However, I am a firm believer that your digital skills are only as effective as your traditional skills. Those with a foundation in drawing painting, composition and theory will have a competitive edge over those who to rely on the digital technology to make their work.

Anyone can scan a photo-distort-posterize and process it through a filter. But what makes it unique? Does technique dictate the work or do we dictate the technique to communicate and enhance our vision? Intuition is idiosyncratic and has as yet to be incorporated into digital technology.

Social networking has changed the landscape of how work is seen, perceived and promoted, unimaginable a decade ago.

 

DG: There seems to be an element of critics who dismiss beauty at its most simple and pure as fluff, as if meaningful expression can only be found in the edgy, hard, damaged, or ugly. How would you respond to that? 

BD: Work that is from the soul whether it is dark or light should never be dismissed.

My personal work is dark and my fashion work is light. It took me a long time to calibrate the two and realize that one does not invalidate or surpass the other.

Thank you, Bil. It was an honour.

For Chado Ralph Rucci, New York Fashion Week, September 2010

  For Vanity Fair Italia, 2011

 

For more about Bil Donovan visit his website, and if you're in New York you have a unique opportunity to see him work live:

All illustrations © Bil Donovan

The Last of Paris...

 

 

 

 

One of the views from our hotel balcony...I miss it

 
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
   

Photos © The Swelle Life

Paris Week: Jardin du Luxembourg Pt. 2

Carrying on from last week's Pt. 1, here are more glimpses of one of my most favourite places, Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. And now I cry.

 

 
 
 
 
I understand now why Parisians are so slim. There are scales all over the park so you can keep that bread and pastry intake in check.

This may not be the best view:

 

 

 

These kids were antagonising the pigeons for about half an hour. I guess they know how to make their own fun.

 
 
  
  
 
 

Photos © The Swelle Life

Versailles Series, Pt. 1: Bassin de Neptune

While in Paris I visited Versailles for the first time. Why I didn't go when we lived there I have no idea, maybe I fell into that trap of thinking you have lots of time, then it's gone. Here is the first of what will be many, many posts from Versailles. I walked for 6 hours straight, didn't eat, got a bit of sunstroke and took over 1000 pictures,  and I didn't even see the main palace. (And I'm not finished with my show and tell of Paris, either!)

This series is all about Marie Antoinette's domain, the Petite Trianon and the Grand Trianon.

Admittedly, this introduction, starting with Bassin de Neptune, is the most boring of the scenery. How's that for a lead-in! It's the very first thing I saw when I left the grounds of the palace to go to the trianons of Marie Antoinette's domain. It was stunning in person and I'd wish I had a picnic with me, but of course it can't compare to the structures and the lavish rooms of the palaces, or the gardens, in photos. I could have edited heavily and got into it quicker, but I'm showing all of the angles for those who haven't been and want a feel for what's it really like to be there.

The Bassin de Neptune took over a century to complete (and you thought condos were scandalously behind schedule) and features in Versailles' spectacular fountain show. I did not see this spectacular fountain show. But it's just as well, I seriously could not take in any more beauty than I already had, it was gorgeousness overload and all I wanted to do at the end of the day was drop to the ground and sleep. I don't recommend that, however, there are a lot of dogs about.

I hope you like green.

   
 
 

 

     

 

 

The trees have been sculpted to look like giant hedges. How do they do it? And how often to maintain the sharpness of the edges? I can't find an answer, so if you know, please tell us in the comments!

 

This is the tree-lined path to Marie Antoinette's domain - a long, serene walk with horses and sheep providing the periferal scenery. This little lamb likes to walk around with his tongue sticking out, as so many of us do:

Photos © The Swelle Life

Paris Week: Jardin du Luxembourg Pt. 1

One of my most favourite places in Paris is Jardin du Luxembourg. We got to know it well in 2009 when we lived next to it, and found it still had all of its magic when we were there again last week.  It didn't even give me allergies.

In the spirit of brevity, a concept with which I am only vaguely familiar, let's let the photos tell the story...

 

 

 
  

"I am very sorry to have to tell you this, Mademoiselle, but this will be the last horsie ride."

"Oh, wow... I need to take a moment. Damn."
 
 
 
    

 

 

 

 

Even the snack bar is pretty.

   

Photos © Denise Grayson, The Swelle Life

'In Fashion': Alice Hawkins at Showstudio

God I love this woman. In lieu of this week's Pretty column (maybe it counts because the subject is pretty?! Give me that, thanks) I'm linking to an interview that Showstudio's Alex Fury did with photographer Alice Hawkins in February and have just released. I've been so looking forward to this; until now I'd only read interviews and saw her work, my favourite being her relatively recent fashion film The Good Life which I embarrassingly gushed all over. And I almost just did it again. 

The glamour-obsessed yet throughly down to earth Hawkins loves to transform her subjects in way that is superficial and rooted in humanity all at once. What does that mean? Click the image to find out.

 

PARISIENNE PLEASURES AND TREASURES: INTRODUCING JOURNALIST RICHARD GILLES

Around 2001 I moved from LA to that majestic masterpiece of a city, Paris. I called home a large fab apartment on a small street, which at the closer end had the bustling market street Rue Montorgueil and at the other end, the also bustling - but for very different reasons - Rue St Denis. There the ladies of the day and night competed for customers wearing some pretty outrageous and provocative outfits. On one occasion a group of ladies commented on my look with a resounding "c'est jolie " and from that day I started to get a faint nod of recognition as I passed regularly on my way to purchase fabrics or notions . If you want to discreetly glimpse at some amazing PVC and latex numbers, pop along the little side street Rue Blondel.

I worked constantly on my eponymous fashion line and my clothing went down a treat in Japan. Buyers would come to my apartment that converted into a convincing showroom during Fashion Week. It was a time of change for the better, away from the boundaries of the less adventurous LA, and I found myself becoming more experimental - inspiration was everywhere.

I would buy my fabrics in the maze of streets at the foot of the Sacre Coeur known as Marche Saint Pierre. If I recall correctly, the five floor store Dreyfus (selling everything from bargain basement fabrics to designer, and a fine range of basic cloth that suited me) was a regular haunt, but other less known gems were hidden along side streets. On the way home if I wasnt laden with goods I would pop into Tati, the shop with the pink and white gingham awnings. There you never knew what you might find from kitsch to useful or downright tacky and useless. It was plain old good fun shopping, cheap and cheerful (Metro Barbes Rochechouart). Then off back down the Rue Faubourg St Denis, passing my fave Passage Brady, a small covered passageway that was wall to wall Indian restaurants and food and trinket shops, simply yummy (Metro Chateau d'Eau). Then home to work.

Here are some pieces from my 2002 collections as styled for various Paris magazines:

 

This was my first time in Paris in the 70s, just minutes before a pastry hit me in the head!

 

From this wonderful melting pot of cultures and the most incredibly beautiful and exciting city hails my dear friend, journalist Richard Gilles. From next month he will become for Denise The Swelle Life's Paris eyes and ears and will report monthly from that grand city. Richard has that effortless chic that the French are renowned for. He is a well travelled, incredibly knowledgeable and cultured man and doesnt miss a trick. Perfect for Denise, living and working in the city she also adores. I asked Richard to give us a few tips on places to see which he has, and to my surprise has included a vivid funny account of how we met all those years back, the rascal.  Ahhh memories... à bientôt, J

*The couture coat I am wearing this week in my style photo was purchased in a "swap shop" for a mere 25 pence. The deal was you took in clothes you no longer wore, they gave you a price and you spent it in the shop.  I got £9.75 for my bits n bobs and nonchalantly asked for the coat in the window that I had spotted the day before when they were closed. I didn't sleep that night in anticipation - it's a "Lacroix, Darling"!

And now on to Richard Gilles

MADEMOISELLE FRANKLAND AND MOI…

 I vividly remember the first night Judith and I became firm friends: it was in Levita House – a rather derelict council building in the infamous Somerstown, where every single flat was squatted by either students, artists, or musicians but also a couple of Hell’s angels and drug dealers to add spice to the atmosphere - on the landing of the 5^th floor. Judith was dressed to the nines, but no one to go out with her! So I gently obliged… And we lived out of each other’s pocket for the following two years, when she left with her newly wed Italian husband for a Californian honeymoon - the charms of Disneyland, Snow White and the seven dwarves… But that’s another story La Frankland will be happy to tell you in her monthly diaries! May I add that I was Judith’s “bridesmaid” at her wedding, which took place in Chelsea Town Hall in the winter of 2006 and that, to Judith’s father’s bemusement, I was wearing a red kilt… Mind you, Judith was wearing a white leather cap found in a gay sex shop and was sporting more chains than Mister T around her neck. So much for the blushing bride! For some reason, there are hardly any pictures of Judith and I together, except for those taken in Italy (Milan and Venice) in 1990…

Three days ago – just before MY BIRTHDAY! - Judith Darling asked me to concoct a quick shopping guide in Paris.  So I decided to concentrate on the area where I live, typically Parisian and tourist free most of the time. Welcome to the Faubourg Saint Antoine!

In a sense, the Faubourg Saint Antoine is famous all over the world as La Bastille was located there. In the fifteenth century, the faubourg became the principal working-class quartier of Paris, cradle of revolutions and mother of street fighters… the rest is history! From its beginnings, the principal trade associated with it has been furniture making, and this was where the classic styles of French furniture – Louis Quatorze, Louis Quinze, Second Empire – were developed. Many furniture workshops, as well as related trades such as inlayers, stainers and polishers, still inhabit the maze of interconnecting yards and passages that run off the faubourg.

But enough of that, I will take you shopping now…

 

It’s about time to jazz up your little black dress, and Metal pointu's  bold jewelry will accomplish the expected miracle. The pieces are pure forms of daring, strong and bold metal.

Métal pointu’s, 9 rue de Charonne, 75009 Paris. Tel: +33 1 47 00 81 60

www.metal-pointus.com

 

 

 

You want to feel like a true Parisienne? Cleo Ferin Mercury was brought up in the colourful and multicultural area of La Goutte d’or, at the bottom of Montmartre. Her beautiful printed silk scarves will add a “je ne sais quoi” to any outfit. For her latest collection, Cleo took inspiration from her childhood icons: a youthful Brigitte Bardot, Dame Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, Wanda Jackson, and Grace Jones.

Discover Cleo’s world at www.cleoferinmercury.co.uk

 

You love couture and exquisite ready-to-wear but you don’t want to break open the piggy bank? Le Dressing d’Eva is definitely worth a visit: one-off pieces by Pucci, Leonard, Ungaro, Yves Saint Laurent, Missoni, and Mugler, custom jewelry and accessories by Chanel, Vuitton, Ferragamo, Valentino, and Fendi.

Le Dressing d’Eva, 18 rue Jules Vallès, 75011 Paris. Tel: +33 1 44 93 70 81

www.ledressingdeva.com

 

Around the corner, Anna Colore customizes and transforms industrial furniture and objects, giving them a bold, personal, feminine touch.

Anna Colore Industriale, 7 rue Paul Bert, 75011 Paris, +33 1 43 79 41 62

www.anna-colore-industriale.com

 

 

Another curiosity is Petites Demoiselles, a temple dedicated to Blythe and Pullip dolls and their extensive, deluxe wardrobe.

Petites demoiselles, 16 rue des Boulets, 75011 Paris

petitesdemoiselles.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

Feeling peckish? Time to discover true Oriental delights. La Bague de Kenza is the ideal venue: sweets and pastries filled with almonds, pistachios, walnuts, figs, or dates, and flavored with honey, rose water, orange blossom water, mint, citrus, or vanilla are beautifully arranged on numerous trays.

La Bague de Kenza, 173, Rue du faubourg St-Antoine, 75011 Paris.

labaguede.kenza.free.fr

The shopping experience has been exhausting? Time for the French Coiffeur experience thanks to Matt, who will know how to make you feel that extra special. 

Living Room, 22 rue des Taillandiers, 75011 Paris. + 33 1 43 55 66 81

www.livingroomparis.com

 

 

 

 

 

Craving for pampering? In the heart of a bustling city, Maison Dr Hauschka is a secret, peaceful haven dedicated to beauty and relaxation pleasantly located in a courtyard full of flowers.

La Maison Dr.Hauschka, 39 rue de Charonne, 75011 Paris. Tél :  +33 1 43 55 40 55

http://www.drhauschka.fr/

 

 

 

 

- Richard Gilles

Richard will be bringing his fantastic roundup of what's on in Paris and around the world as a regular feature - aren't we 'chanceux'!

Ashley Isham's Floral Autumn

Last but not least of my (untimely) London Fashion Week coverage is Ashley Isham. I wasn't familiar with the London-based Singaporean designer (yes, that's what a person from Singapore is called, I looked it up) but I was all 'ooh!' as soon as his first look hit the runway. From my fortuitous vantage point - I was directly in line with the models as they began their walk from backstage - I was in awe of the headpieces which were a mix of silk flowers, pouffy embroidered tulle, some with chopstick-like appendages finished with tassles. The more florals the better and they were echoed in the dresses as prints and lace appliques. The all-dress (+ 2 jackets) collection offered short and full-length styles (with the odd appearance by the hybrid variety, the 'mullet' dress - short in front and long in the back. Perfect for those days when you're not sure if you're party or business).

There was a bit of sheer paneling - or nothing at all - in the mid-section of some dresses, and I wondered if these were simply showpieces and the production for retail would cover up the belly-buttons and ribcages that were saying 'Hello'. I think the ornate-ness of the headpieces atop those slightly exhibitionist outifits made them seem more naked; with simple hair and minimal accessories they just might work on the right person at the right event such as the Grammys (though I think the belly button should never be the centrepiece of an outfit! Bikinis excepted).

On a good note, the one that matters, the glorious headpieces and vivid floral prints made me want to run around in a meadow until allergies would make my eyes swell shut.

 

  

 
 
 
 

   

Photos by Denise Grayson

Christian Lacroix and the Tale of Sleeping Beauty

This original content post features a sponsored link   

Fashion, particularly haute couture, hasn't been the same since Christian Lacroix closed his house as we knew it. Lacroix was my favourite couturier, his over-the-top, opulent way of arranging colour, texture and print an aesthetic I had to grow into, and when I did there was no one else who brought such joy. 

So when I heard that Lacroix had collaborated with Camilla Morton on a fashion fairytale that she rewrote and he illustrated, I made a noise that drew all of the neighbourhood stray dogs to my front door. Lacroix's first love, and as he seems to indicate in interviews on subject, his one true love, fashion illustration (that's right!?) could soon be heavy in my own two hands.

I ordered Christian Lacroix and the Tale of Sleeping Beauty straight away - you can check Amazon.com coupons for deals before going to the site - and was supremely excited to read it to my daughter, it's 'our' special book. (I love that at five years-old she can pronounce 'Lacroix' perfectly. That is very important, you know.)

It's an extraordinary book; Morton retells the fairytale classic as delicious fashion fiction - though firmly rooted in the bitchy reality of the industry, particularly that of fashion editors - working Lacroix in as a central character alongside Beauty, a fantastical biography of sorts. I was going to describe my favourite details but that would spoil it - if you haven't yet read it I wouldn't want to steal those sweet moments of discovery away from you. 

The next in the Camilla Morton fashion fairytale series - thank you for these, Ms. Morton! - is Manolo Blahnik and the Tale of the Elves and the Shoemaker, available in November. And apparently there are more in the works, though I have to say I feel satiated with the first in the series!

The hardcover without the sleeve, which I prefer

I admit I was taken aback by the dark, sometimes grotesque (see below) drawings that make up some of the pictures. I guess I expected 100% beauty from Lacroix, all colour and whimsical loveliness, but he is a true illustrator, portraying the ugly parts of the story as they really are. There is nothing beautiful about a woman so tragically self-obsessed that she sentences a baby to die on her 16th birthday - all because a party began on time despite her lateness! Still, in true Lacroix form, the details are exquisite. 

Like Lacroix haute couture, the pages are a glorious mix of things - contrasting fonts and colours playing with the electric illustrations.

  One of Christian Lacroix's many self-portraits

Interiors & Exteriors: Saltburn-by-the-Sea

  

Now I love our beach, the aptly named Longsands that spans Tynemouth to Cullercoats, and the neighbouring idyllic King Edwards Bay with the Priory Castle overlooking the North Sea from its beautiful, craggy cliff. But last weekend I really fell hard for the beach and seaside community of Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire. We were visiting our lovely friends in their new home in Yarm for the first time and they spoiled us in all kinds of ways, and one of them was taking us to their local beach to share the beauty.

Not only was the beach gorgeous and expansive with an impressive look-out pier, there were all kinds of charming little shops, restaurants and ice cream stands, and of course anything one needed to surf (no, I didn't, that would look ridiculous).  It was a clear, sunny day and people from all over had come to pretend it was spring. I have never seen a queue so long for fish and chips, and in England that's saying a lot.  (It was worth the wait!)

This post  is for this week's Interiors & Exteriors feature and it's long enough sticking to the theme, so I'll post the beach shots separately. Are you craving fish and chips now? I am.

In the town, just a quick uphill walk from the beach, there were some great shops. I was already lagging behind and we needed to eat lunch so I didn't go in, but I wanted some photos of the wonderful window displays of Northern Lights Interiors

As I was snapping away I saw a woman smiling from inside - you can see her below! and I smiled and waved. As I headed down the road she came out after me and asked if I'd take photos of the storefront, they'd been having trouble getting them without cars in the way and I was happy to oblige. I even had a man ham it up for me!

 

We passed a random rusted-out door that appeared to lead to nowhere with a keypad right in the middle. I'll bet if you pushed the right numbers it would transport you to another dimension. Prove me wrong!

  This photo would have been so much cooler if I'd waited just 10 more seconds...

 

On display at Arts Bank were lamps and tables in vibrant patchwork by Jane Atkinson and a metal sculpture by Ray Lonsdale. Each contains a 'secret meaning' in the form of an object placed in the head. Now, if I'd read the brief beside this life-size contemplative man instead of taking a photo and reading at home, I would have looked and been able to tell you what was in his head! 

 
   

Photos by Denise Grayson

LFW: Bora Aksu's Exquisitely Structured Textures and Knits

I LOVED this show. Turkish born and London-based Bora Aksu spoiled us with all kinds of delicous details worked into his highly structured pieces.  It was one of those shows where I found myself making audible 'ooh and ah' sounds as I snapped away. And that's how it should be!

In a predominantly black, silver and grey palette with pops of emerald green every few looks, there were intricate and bold knits; lace and panels of sheer chiffon and leather - the latter which at times resembled a breast plate, like a glam Joan of Arc, and was seen plain as well as embossed, outlined with large stitch holes; jackets and shirts with reconstructed tuxedo elements; harness belts; flirty skirts; and a clear plastic-y material that showed up in sleeves, panels and skirts for a more structured transparency than the chiffon could offer.

As you can see, in many of his outfits Aksu used all of these elements to create complex, highly textured garments to stunning effect.  You want to take them in your hands and have a good look and feel at everything that's going on - front, sides and back. The collection is a perfect balance of hard and soft, the silks and knits tempering the rigidness of the leather to make it something wearable.

 
 
  

  

 
  
 

 

Photos by Denise Grayson

LFW: Orla Kiely's Enchanted Forest

   

I so look forward to Orla Kiely's presentation at each London Fashion Week. She transforms the Portico Rooms at Somerset House and it's like stepping into another, very beautiful, world. This season the setting was a forest, complete with birds perched in trees and in wooden birdhouses, and two cabins showing her collection film. Unfortunately I only had a few minutes this time and had to run off without sitting down to watch it, but from what I saw the way it was shot reminded me a bit of Un Chien Andalou!

Oh yes, and the clothes! There is so much to engage the senses that you almost forget about models and clothes until you see what felt like omnipresent beings. Very nicely dressed ones. Everywhere you looked there was the same platinum-haired model in a different outfit of course, superimposed on the walls and peering out from behind the barren tree branches. The colours were all very muted, as if they were meant to blend in with the scenery, bar a nice shock of tangerine.

I included this very blurry photo of Orla because it captured a sweet moment. I was taking a photo of the film from outside the cabin when she walked out, realised she was in my shot and made a very humble 'oops, sorry!' expression. It's ok, Ms. Kiely, you can step into my shot any time! She's awesome.

And have you seen the Orla Kiely cars? The microsite for the Citroen DS3 by Orla Kiely is a pretty neat interactive catalogue of the range. Click the image to see it.

 
   
 
 
 

 

Photos by Denise Grayson

  Judith Frankland wears a top, skirt and earrings of her own design. The perfect transition outfit for busting out of the convent.

BALENCIAGA HEARS THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Act 1

That was the description given to my graduation collection by a very generous journalist  back in 1980. My name in the same breath as the Spanish genius Cristobal Balenciaga (1895-1972) and my beloved "I want to be a nun when I grow up" film The Sound of Music - how fabulous! I accepted the comparison and compliment with delight - after all, I'm only human! My graduation show at The Cafe Royale in London was attended by some of the most glamourous faces from the Blitz and the Head honcho himself, Steve Strange. Thanks to them it was received with an enthusiastic cheer! I was told years later that Vivienne Westwood was there, this was before the McClaren-Westwood Worlds End collection had been unleashed on an awestruck London.

My small collection was predominantly black and white taffeta, brocade, velvet and satin.The black and white striped satin had embossed polka dots in turquoise and yellow in two different sizes and widths; it also came with a tale or perhaps a tall story . The delighted salesman who brought the bolts up from the basement of the shop in London "especially for me" proceeded to tell me that this fabric had been created for the Rolling Stones some years back for a tour and this was the last remaining yardage. With glee I didn't hesitate to say "I'll take it all" and the story, to this day I don't know the truth, but then again I still believe in Father Christmas!

THE VEIL AND STEPHEN JONES

 On the day of the show, my Mum who had travelled down from the Lake District with her friend was backstage with me while I nervously put the finishing touches to the frocks. Today, at 81 years old, she still recalls seeing a rather unusual looking young man coming towards us. He was wearing a suit complete with knickerbockers and ballet style shoes with bows, carrying what turned out to be the crowning glory of my ultimate piece, the black Wedding Dress. This gracious and polite young man was Stephen Jones who had kindly created this architectural wonder for me. This veil headdress was made of stiffened lace on a metal frame and was simply amazing. Who would have thought at that moment that a few years later he would be hailed as one of the world's greatest milliners? Hmm...actually anyone who came into contact with him or his work knew, it was so obvious. The dress and veil was to be worn by the beautiful statuesque model Sheila Ming, possibly best remembered now for her role in the Duran Duran video for Hungry like the Wolf.

After the show, Steve Strange contacted me and bought the dress and veil along with a couple of other pieces. One was a medieval-style taffeta jacket he later wore on the cover of the Visage single Fade to Grey. One of Steve's friends Vivienne Jagger bought the opera coat with striped polka dot lining and a huge stand up collar.

THE BLITZ, DAVID BOWIE AND ASHES TO ASHES

The icing on the cake however was the night David Bowie came to The Blitz searching for extras for his new single which would be named Ashes to Ashes. In a wonderful twist of fate, Steve was resplendent in the wedding outfit that night and was chosen straight away. He was also asked to select people he felt could be right. I believe designer Stephen Linard had been asked but due to pressing circumstances was unable to partake. I was invited as was Darla Jane Gilroy over to the table where David Bowie and his P.A. Coco were sitting and offered a glass of champagne. Darla and I were both dressed in a similar ecclesiastic style and were also asked to take part for what at that time was a decent sum of money for penniless, decadent students. We were told Coco would call us the following day with the details. I awoke with a jolt, seriously wondering if this had all been a dream. I chose to believe not and sat at the door of the "palatial" bedsit for hours waiting for the communal upstairs phone to ring so that I could sprint up in time to catch it. When the call finally came, I was instructed to be outside The Hilton the next day at some ungodly hour, fully dressed and made up the same way I had been at The Blitz, and to get the coach to a secret location.

  That wedding dress from Judith's graduate collection with the veil made by Stephen Jones

 

Judith performed in David Bowie's iconic Ashes to Ashes video along with three of her Blitz friends, including Steve Strange who wore her wedding dress and veil in some of the scenes. Judith is on the far right in the first screen cap.

When we arrived at the beach near Hastings, the crew was set up and David Bowie greeted us dressed in the Lindsay Kemp outfit he would wear that day. He coached us for a few minutes on the words we were to mime and then the day was spent in sinking sand and mud. We had "done well" we were told at the end of the day and asked to come to the studios in Wandsworth to shoot another scene. May I add that at the studios David Bowie had lunch with us mere mortals in the canteen. Yummy. The scene we were to do at the studio involved an explosion and I was at the back. In fact if you look at the video you can see my crucifix swing in. We were told to duck out and run after we had mimed our piece or we could be hurt. This was difficult in a hobble dress, so I hoisted it up as high as I could and got ready to run. Quite a sight for the superstar sat behind me. It took about three takes and we were done and told we could stay to watch the rest of the filming and that we should tell no one about the details of the video. It was all very hush hush.

The night it aired on Top of the Pops I was working at Hell (another Steve and Rusty club - more about that next week). As I had to get there early I would take the tube alone, a daunting affair. However, this particular Thursday I was wearing the outfit I had worn in the video, totally unintentionally. I was recognised by some people who had seen Top of the Pops and ridiculed by others, as usual. But it was worth it. To this day that video still interests and intrigues lots of folk. It was at the time the most expensive video ever made and the song went to Number 1, perhaps we should have bartered for more money. The mileage I got out of that collection had only just begun and I was an established New Romantic.

Adieu for now from this Old Romantic who will never be a nun.

Judith, who was known as Judi back then, had pieces from her graduated collection featured in Viz magazine where it was described as '"Balenciaga hears the Sound of Music'"

Special thanks from Judith to David Johnson for "reviving the mucky 30-year-old slides and bringing them back to life." The photographer who shot them was Niall McInerney.

Header photo of Judith by Denise Grayson.

Come back next Tuesday for Act. 2 - with more delightful (and some bitchy) surprises!

Judith Frankland's Wonderful Car Boot & Museum Living Room

Judith's mother and aunt in 1955.

The first time I walked into Judith Frankland's living room I was taken aback. I had never seen a room like hers, ever. There are knick-knacks, or tchotchke as Judith likes to call them, everywhere you look - rainbow colour, texture galore, kitsch - and personal photos and artefacts from moments in fashion history I've only read about. I was in awe. I was just getting to know Judith, we'd only spoken on the phone before that day and the sight of her flat told me there was a heck of a lot to explore with my new (then) platinum-haired fashion designer friend, and it wasn't going to be done in one afternoon. It took about thirty minutes before I'd absorbed enough of my surroundings to be able to settle into it, I could not stop looking around. I found it a challenge to engage in conversation which says a lot as Judith is so full of fascinating stories.  A year and many visits later I'm still noticing curiosities on the tables, the walls and the shelves. And I'm still hearing new stories.

She has a pink microvave. She doesn't use it. Her kitchen is a bit like a 1950s version on acid, and the bathroom is lushly decorated with marine-themed objects. Of course it is.

There's a method to the madness. A quick glance around might have you thinking 'A crazy lady lives here' if you're devoid of imagination. Take a closer look and you'll see that's it all arranged quite meticulously and is dust-free. These are all things that she or someone who well knows her aesthetic leanings has picked up at flea markets and car boot sales, including her TV. She loves nuns and The Sound of Music. She has an original Sex Pistols t-shirt from Seditionaries, they were printed inside out, as well as the handkerchief. Not the fake kind Damien Hirst unwittingly paid thousands for, poor chump. These were made by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood on their kitchen floor and somehow they remain in her possession; Judith's had many things stolen and even left some at John Lydon AKA Johnny Rotten's flat one time. Considering how much Judith has moved around in the last 30 years it's really a wonder anything's left.

And in case you're asking 'Who is this Judith character?' see her blog Frankly Frankland here or in the sidebar for a closer look.

  Judith has the first issue of Anarchy in the UK, pubished in 1976. That's the whole newspaper in there and she's offered to let me have a look and take some pictures of what's inside. Oh yes, please! You can't see this and not ask 'Who's that on the cover?' It's Soo Catwoman, a well-known figure from the London scene of 1976-77, the period we now know as punk, although as Soo says on her website it "defied description and didn't get its name for quite some time, having taken everyone by surprise." And as you can see, Judith is a fan of Tupac. Yep, she loves him. That's what great about Judith, you can't shoehorn her into a label!

The original Sex Pistols handerchief. I didn't ask Judith if she ever blew her nose on it.

There's the Sex Pistols t-shirt, among other items. That terrifying looking thing on the shelf is a form for making ventriloquist dummies. She sometimes helps out a friend who makes them by creating tiny little outfits with matching hats.

 
That's Judith in one of her designs, that fantastic skirt.

 

Judith designed and made the outfit featured on Visage's Fade to Grey single cover, worn by her good friend Steve Strange. The blond man with the glasses was also a friend, I believe he was in an 80s band and I'll check on that. He passed away. Judith lost a lot of friends to AIDS in the 80s.

  One of Judith's many abilities includes incredible flexibilty. Or maybe they're mannequin legs.

Her coffee table. It is under there.

 

 
 "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the pinkest of them all?"

 
 
 
 

Photos by Denise Grayson

 I am thrilled to introduce my good friend Judith Frankland, a fashion designer with a larger-than-life yet down-to-earth personality, who is the most stylish person I know, and know of. Our Blitz Kid All Grown Up was originally going to do a weekly style post, then it occurred to both of us that her mental bank of fascinating, 'you did what?' and 'did that really happen?' stories from her days in London, Milan, Paris and Los Angeles needed to be shared; Judith's history is as rich as her look and so the two should marry. There is no such thing as a brief conversation with Judith - at least in my experience! - and that's a good thing, as you'll see. 

The Swelle Life is Judith's official blogging home, a perfect match as TSL is all about colour, delicious detail, fun, longwinded posts, self-deprecation, and good people. And great interiors. Check out her living room!

Oh, and if you find yourself coveting any of Judith's designs, feel free to ask for details.

Over to you, Judith...

   Judith in her wonderful living room. When we shot, she felt the decor may not be 'enough'! Skirt and tie by Judith Frankland; jacket, shirt, and shoes are charity shop finds. Photo: Denise Grayson

Style guru, self appointed expert, critic, preacher? No way! I'm an upstart and a woman like many who loves - and in my case 'lives' - fashion and the world that lurks around it, a world I have stepped in and out of all my life living in London, Vancouver, Milan, Los Angeles and my beloved Paris. I have an excitable, excruciatingly inquisitive mind; I never stop thinking, plotting and some would say talking!

I am not a lover of the term "On trend"; I like to say "On form". Micro mini to maxi. If it feels right on the day I'll wear it - no sheep mentality for me. The only thing I follow is the weather - a hard job in Olde England. I, like zillions of others, love to wear clothes, dress up and be noticed, and I shall be incorporating a weekly look alongside my banter. I mix bargain buys, charity shop finds and my own creations. I'll be begging a hairstylist friend once in a while to do me a 'do as I'm not good with tongs unless provoked.

When Denise offered me this weekly spot on The Swelle Life I was so flattered and jumped at the chance to let off some creative steam and share my experiences, past and present. And we'll have a good old romp through my ever-expanding wardrobe, so come join me every Tuesdsay as I throw myself back into the lion's den to launch a new collection later this year.

Judith in one of her fantastic creations, a two-tiered skirt in a bubble of 'school boy' fabric over plaid ruffles in pink and purple.  Photos: Denise Grayson

A Brief History

My life so far has been full of surprises and more than my share of drama, which I seem to attract! My roots - well, the ones on my head are grey now - but the ones from my past were very colourful, from punk to New Romantic and a lot more along the way. Now you may think "Aha - trends!" but at the time they were fresh. I was in the right place at the right time at the right age. These were groundbreaking times, full of self expression and the desire to have a unique look. Often peoples' perception of punk is different from mine. In the early days, the look was bright, not just black, ripped and safety pinned. One of my outfits was an orange lurex two-piece, purple tights, odd dayglo socks, pink kitten heels. Bows all over my head, a plastic mac with small kids' toys attached (ok, with safety pins). That was one way I would troll up on Bromley high street on my way to college. I loathed college, and it wasnt keen on me either, at least the boring head honchos weren't. We would buy boiler suits and dye them bright colours, all very DIY and inexpensive. As my mood darkened mainly due to my dislike of that dreaded place, I started to embrace the all-black and tartan style and a bit of a bad attitude that was to become the punk stereotype.

 Judith in the mid-80s with friend and artist Tim Southall. Photo: Richard Sawdon Smith

The Blitz

Then the Blitz and Steve Strange came hurtling into my life where weekly we paraded around proud as peacocks. It was out and out glamour as we danced to the brilliant DJ Rusty Egan. Steve and Rusty started this night in the small wine bar in Holborn that held around 250 people. Lucky fashion plates, it changed the course of my life and gave chances to many others. I had met Steve through my degree show which was later labelled New Romantic and he bought several pieces from this collection.

Every week in the (less than) palatial South Kensington bedsit I shared with my friend, designer Richard Ostell, we would spend hours coming up with what to wear. Poor Richard had the labourious task of using a can of Elnette and a lot of elbow grease to create a bouffant for me without a hair extension in sight; in fact I'm not sure they existed then. We were optimistic, fame hungry, party animals with a fondness for cocktails and the fine things in life, but booted back to reality when the bank statement came as the majority of us were students. Apart from that it was a fantastic time!

At the Blitz you would rub shoulders with luminaries from the world of art, music, fashion, journalism and photography: Gilbert and George, Brian Clarke, model Marie Helvin, even John Lydon AKA Johnny Rotten, and many others. But not Mick Jagger. Steve Strange famously denied him entry one night - his look didn't pass! And then of course there were the stars of the near future strutting their stuff: Sade, Spandau Ballet, George (later to become Boy), and Midge Ure to name a few.

I had my "15 minutes" when I was handpicked to appear in David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes video. I followed this with a video for Visage's Mind of a Toy single, designing and making the costumes - more on both in a future post. The site Shapers of the 80s gives a very accurate look into this era with some great pictures. A few colourful if somewhat chaotic fashion shows were next and then off I was on my travels.

 

Milan and Onward

After a few moves I settled into running clubs in Milan and one-nighters throughout Italy. We brought from London the fabulous Gerlinde Costiff and hubby Michael with the "girls" and DJs from their legendary club, Kinky Gerlinky. Leigh Bowery hosted a night sporting two pairs of shoes at once and a toilet seat around his neck for starters. Showcases followed for Seal, Right Said Fred, Dee-Lite, Ru Paul, Lahoma van Zandt and super DJ Larry Tee from New York. Fashion shows, parties for MTV, the list is long. It was a crazy, fast time.

After some years in Milan I flew the nest to LA where I started a clothing label selling in various shops around the city. Next it was Paris where I happily started to export to Japan. A busy, satisfying life with lots of work and all rather glam in the way only Paris can be.

These days I'm treating my mind and body with respect, and as a friend brilliantly put it after his abstinence over the holidays, "My liver loves me." I'm channelling all my energy and my retirement from the wilder side of life into creativity. I have many frocks to make, places to see, people to meet, and things to learn - writing well being one of them. Be gentle with me, please! I'm full of surprises and hope you can be lured back even just to look at the pictures!

Join us next Tuesday for Balenciaga Hears the Sound of Music - how a journalist described Judith's graduate collection. She'll share photos of her fantastic creations and tell the story of that fateful night when David Bowie came into the Blitz and chose her, three friends and the fabulous black lace wedding dress from her collection to appear in the Ashes to Ashes video. A great story all around - and as promised, there will be surprises!

Dior's Illustrative Haute Couture

Haute couture week has begun and it's just what we need in a dismal January. So far, Giorgio Armani has ignored what his loyal ladies like from their Privé and indulged wholeheartedly in hi-tech fabrics that resembled liquid metal. The collection may require Armani's clients to stretch their minds more than they're willing but the story goes that he doesn't really care! These extraordinary fabrics in clean and shapely silhouettes are begging to be touched, the curiosity as to whether the disturbance would cause a ripple effect being too much to resist:

John Galliano tapped the glory days of haute couture for Dior with gestural references to René Gruau, the illustrator whose work for Christian Dior in the forties and fifties created the house's most iconic imagery, according to Tim Blanks. Zigs and squiggles and painterly details that could have been lifted directly from a Gruau illustration adorned many of the outfits, instantly distinguishing the collection from Galliano's previous incarnations of the hyper-glam 1940s skirt and jacket and opulent ball gowns.

Galliano balanced the waist-centric staples with voluminous, blousey shapes that aren't likely to appeal to the socialites, but showcased those divine silks and sublime textural embellishment which is the most delicioius thing about haute couture in my opinion.

FYI - speaking of Dior and the house's history with fashion illustration, I've interviewed Bil Donovan, Dior Beauty's first in-house fashion illustrator and renowned artist, which I'll be running in February. It was a privilege and a thrill to speak with Bil and I can't wait to bring it to you!

 

Pat McGrath's beauty look for this show is the ultimate in gorgeous glamour makeup:

But the Pièce de résistance has to be John Galliano's new hair:

He is the gift that keeps on giving in every way possible.

Photos: Style.com

Cupcake Monday! The Pretty Ones + Porcelain Roses and Heartbreak

Let's just bask in the prettiness of these cupcakes which appear to be wrapped in ketchup cups! (Also brilliant for Jell-o shooters I recall from back in the day. I wonder if they stole theirs from McDonald's.) I was going to post more but these mini beauties really do it for me and so I don't really want to look at anything else (I'm loyal that way). Hope you don't mind.

The icing roses remind me of those tiny, delicate porcelain flowers. I have a silver anchor necklace just covered with them, I got it in Paris from Les Bijoux de Sophie. I came close to a public hissy fit when I was at a restaurant in Montmartre and its long pendant got hooked under the edge of the table so when I went to stand up it sheered off some of the roses. Augh! I'm still not over it. It stings. Although, it did teach me a lesson that things don't need to be so precious and I even tried to convince myself that it was more interesting that way. I had a story! Not a good one, but a story nonetheless.

 

I love its pretty take on the cheesy sailor tattoo. I still wear it and tell myself it's more beautiful in its accidental asymmetry.

And if those cupcakes are yours please do let us know as I found them with no credit given, for shame!

The Charm of the Handwritten Letter

 

Even self-confessed freaks for Facebook must admit that there is no charm to be found in a keystroked message electronically delivered to their computer, even if it's from your dream babe whose profile photo is a winsome gaze into the sunset and he ends it with at least one X. Fill your special keepsake box with printouts and it could easily be mistaken for the recycling.

Yet as long as paper and pen are available, those of us who lament the slow death of the handwritten, hand delivered message can still indulge in the romantic tradition of letter-writing. (If us keyboard jockeys can still write - does anyone else find your fingers are like rubber when you go to sign a form? I actually have to practice to keep my once prided penmanship!)

One kindred spirit is the lovely Jem of Beautiful Clutter, a English blog of beautiful things and like this girl, is all about the details. It's a real treat to look at and read, full of loveliness and most likely you'll learn something, too. One day Jem was having a conversation with a reader in the comments about the diminishing tradition of postcard sending, so I piped in and asked if she wanted to revive it. Soon I received this really beautiful postcard, just before Christmas, and it was just the sweetest thing - mission perfectly accomplished!

 

The printed writing on the back is in several languages so I'm not sure where it's from, but it's a special card with its soft, dusty shades and delicate gold detailing the image.

 

Jem wisely didn't want to risk the postcard being damaged so she put it into an envelope. That frees up space to write as well! As you can see Jem is not suffering from rubber fingers, she writes beautifully. I can't say what I sent her as it's on its way but it's something from where I live. Hopefully we'll continue the tradition. How about you?

Celebrating Five Years of N.E.E.T.!

 

Five years ago, N.E.E.T. Magazine was launched and became the first online, free publication dedicated to showcasing the most exciting things happening in the DIY movement - independent, handmade, eco-friendly and vintage fashion and design. Today the quarterly magazine has thousands of enthusiastic readers and is known as a "grassroots style bible for the digital age."

To celebrate five years of success, editor Stephanie J presents the first printed N.E.E.T book. With the theme of ‘FIVE’, the book features five sections with five inspiring N.E.E.T. people, designers, bloggers, photographers and homes, with interviews by five writers, in a N.E.E.T. retrospective.

In the spirit of 'FIVE' you can choose from five cover designs by illustrators Gemma Correll, Kris Atomic, Anke Weckmann, Peggy Wolf and Jordan Grace Owen:

  

The book is available in hardcover and softcover and can be purchased at Blurb. Get a discount until December 31st using one of these codes:

USD $10 coupon: CHEER
GBP £6 coupon: CHEER1
EUR €8 coupon: CHEER2
CAD $11 coupon: CHEER3
AUD $12 coupon: CHEER4

Want a peak inside?

And in case you missed it, the 5th Anniversary edition of N.E.E.T. magazine is now out:

 

 

Congratulations and a BIG thank you for bringing us the wonderful N.E.E.T. Magazine, Stephanie!

(FYI - Stephanie did the redesign of Swelle Boutique, you can see her design portfolio here)

Ice and Snow: Xuan-Thu Nguyen Couture Winter 2010/11

When I saw the video of Xuan-Thu Nguyen's Winter Couture 2010/11 show, my heart soared and sunk all at once. It soared due to the abundance of exquisiteness and it sank because I was supposed to have been there taking it all in firsthand. (I had to renew my Canadian passport and it didn't come back in time to make the trip from England to Paris. The pity party I threw for myself was a rip-roaring good time.) Thu - she goes by the second part of her first name - is a friend; we met when I lived in Paris and I became an instant, rabid fan of her work which revolves around elegant and whimsical shapes and textures that are couture quality even in her prêt-à-porter. This couture collection is my favourite and that's saying a lot considering my smitten-ness was already sealed in concrete.

Thu's concept for winter centres around change, and in the spirit of physical transformation takes inspiration from ice - big chunks contrasted with the softness of snow and melting ice, which unlike a lot of inspirational reference points can be inferred without explanation at first glance of its key pieces.

A Xuan-Thu Nguyen collection wouldn't be complete without something that isn't quite what it seems. In the past we've seen fox 'fur' stoles made out of flowers and here we have 'fur' sculptures in the form of a lush wrap and a skirt made entirely of linen fibres. The details appear as icy flowers, drops of crystal and shifted layers.

As the models walked right up to the front row so guests could have a close look at the details, no doubt hearts were melting, too.

 

 

 

Watch what happened 'avant' the show:

 

 

And here's the show:

 

Showstudio Interview: In Fashion, Stephen Jones

 

You will well know my love of Showstudio and Alex Fury's recent interview with Stephen Jones (do I need to introduce him as the most accomplished and influential milliner of the past three decades?) is one example of why. How many interviews get your heart racing on aethetics alone? Not to say that the words and thoughts of this man of many hats aren't an absolute delight - he gives probably the most enjoyable interviews of anyone I admire and this is one of them - but they do look great. The directors resist becoming seduced by their own cleverness and losing focus on the point of the inteview - extracting wonderful stories from their subject who in this case is the lovely Stephen Jones, who recounts significant moments from his life in fashion.

He also discusses the context around his hats as they pertain to fashion's most influential designers with whom he has longstanding working relationships (but says nothing of the fact that he looks a bit like my uncle Roger).

Karl Lagerfeld (when he was at Chloe): "He was the only designer in Paris who was using hats. He was the one person who saw how a hat on a runway makes a very special notation or focus."

Jean Paul Gaultier: Months after being asked to model in one of his Paris shows (and not being able to due to a motorbike accident), Gaultier and Jones watched a film of the show together. Gaultier then asked him to design the hats for his menswear collection. This became Stephen Jones' first season in Paris and caused him to fall out of favour with the British Fashion Council, who he told to 'bugger off'!

John Galliano: "John works in a very character driven way. He will create this extraordinary story of somebody and it will be a person, a simple muse, in his head and he will create a storyline around her. The hats will fit into parts of the storyline, they'll be almost a punctuation within the storyline of the clothes."

Rei Kawakubo: When I get a brief from her it will normally be by fax, which I love, and it will be a few words written down. Maybe she'll do a little sketch, maybe she'll just say 'I don't know', and that will be the brief. She doesn't want me to undestand what she wants." (This story is particularly noteworthy if you're interested in Rei's creative process.)

Marc Jacobs: "We'll have a conversation. I remember the third season I worked with him he said 'There are two ladies going shopping in Italy. Florence or Rome? Rome. Will they have lunch? Yes. Are they going to Ferragamo or Gucci? No no no, they're going shopping for fine leather gloves.' I said 'Ok, I'll design a hat to go with that.'"

You can watch the interview here.

 

 

Boo! Happy Halloween!

 

Enjoy your sweets but don't do as I did and go nuts on pre-Halloween jumbo Haribos - I'm still dealing with the self-loathing and the feeling that I've got a 1kg wad of gelatin in my stomach. 

Happy Halloween! Are you dressing up? I'm not but figure having to do a full-on Bride of Frankenstein costume with wig, makeup and custom-made dress (thanks Judith!) for Baby Swelle's FOUR parties is adequate commitment to promoting the Halloween spirit!

If anyone has any miracle scar treatments for children please share - that cut on her face ain't makeup.

Orla Kiely SS 2011: Stiff Models, Adorable Dresses and Cake Lollies

Orla Kiely presentations at London Fashion Week are always a treat, quite literally. Not only are the clothes pure eye candy, but this time the print mistress had a sweet-faced 'cigarette' girl serving popcorn in pink retro (of course) cups and the most delicious things I've ever tasted - cake lollies. I wasn't the only one who thought so. A young girl I was standing next to in Orla's tiny cinema was eating one and asked me "Have you had one of these? They're sooo good! I'm on my third one!" That decided it, I didn't need to feel shame for wanting to go back for seconds. Besides, I had already endured being laughed at by two guys who were watching me go to town on one of those popcorn cups. I hadn't eaten anything all day (this somehow happened last season, too) and after some champagne I was desperate. So I stood there with a cup and I ate it all the way to the bottom. It's not like my face was buried in it and popcorn was flying everywhere in a ravenous frenzy (well, only for a moment), but still I must have looked like a freak - hardly anyone even touches the food which is nuts! - but you can't take pictures while holding popcorn so I had no choice. It was use it or lose it!

Moving on....Orla Kiely opted for cardboard cutouts of models wearing the collection to the real deal. That's one way to keep the whining about sore feet in high wooden heels to a minimum. But it worked. Her venue at Somerset House is the Portico Rooms, and she transforms the main room into Orla Kiely headquarters. This time she constructed a cinema, complete with theatre seats, to show her collection and the spirit of it through a film by Gia Coppola - yes, she's related. It took us back to 1960s London, leaving the ochres, oranges, browns and moss greens of the 70s behind (a palette I typically loathe yet I love Orla Kiely without exception), in favour of a rose and mint-green tinted world. There were cupcakes and pretty teacups, ponytails and hair ribbons. It all served to strengthen my resolve that I am indeed a girly-girl. No apologies!

 

Orla Kiely

 

Photos by Denise Grayson @ The Swelle Life

Eugene Lin: A Model Fashion Designer

  

Eugene Lin is a young designer new to the London fashion scene with barely three collections to his name - he's finishing spring 2011 for London Fashion Week this Friday as I write - yet the refinement and elegance of his finely crafted coats and dresses suggest the work of a well-versed design veteran. That's not to say the 28-year-old former soldier from Singapore doesn't know exactly what he's doing. In fact, Mr. Lin built his business and manages every aspect personally, having himself to thank for the growing interest and excitement for his eponymous womenswear label. His cohesive approach to business is reflected in his tight, well-edited collections and vice-versa, an extraordinary quality that rarely exists in talented creatives.

I first met Eugene Lin at London Fashion Week last Febuary and immediately fell in love with his Gordian Knot AW 2010 collection. These are clothes you feel compelled to touch, of soft, fine cashmere and merino and silky draping, in designs that are at once sophisticated and youthful, original and very wearable. Modern, with a bit of edge. You imagine yourself wearing them and how good they would feel.

I had the pleasure of a conversation with Mr. Lin to explore how he came to achieve what he has so early in his career. Serious aspiring designers, take note!

s:  You've now released your second collection, The Gordian Knot, and rather than looking like the follow-up to a debut it appears to be the work of a seasoned designer. And the same could be said for your debut collection as well! Your clothes are refined, elegant and original, which suggests you found your focus very early on. Did you come into Central Saint Martins with this vision of womenswear in mind?

EL: I went to CSM armed with nothing but determination and really raw talent. Having spent the previous two and a half years in the Republic of Singapore army, you could say it was quite a change and I found myself so out of my depth that I did not even know what a 'swatch of fabric' was on the assignment sheet. I honestly thought they were asking for watches! My work then was very, very raw and typical of a lot of student work and collections you see coming out of London. CSM is widely known for its thearatrics, and I thought that going there would shape my work that way. I collaborated with other students to do theatrical pieces but the more I did it, the more I realised that while I was capable of executing it, it was not the type of womenswear I wanted to do.

 I cut my teeth with long hours doing internships while in college and working upon graduation for other designers, because I knew that experience makes all the difference in the industry. Fashion does not care how you get there, all it demands is you produce the refined goods worthy of being international status; it cares not for the 'oh-I-just-graduated-and-need-time-to-get-there' excuse. It simply moves on to the next person who can deliver. I have had the experience of working with some of the best and some of the least talented designers in the industry, so I knew exactly what I wanted and absolutely forbid. I am still learning as a new designer, but I am very happy that my sharp learning curve only shows when customers discover I have only been running my label for over a year.

s: Those are motivational words and a good reality check for students who have misperceptions of what it's like to design in the real world. From the army to CSM! Which was tougher? And how did you feel wearing army fatigues every day? Do you think that shaped your ideals of 'civilian' clothes in any way?

EL: They were both tough in different ways, and as tough as the army was, the discipline really got me through CSM and life after. There are only two ways to leave the army: either you finish your time there, or you die (in training or otherwise). There is no absconding, or deserting, or being AWOL (absent without official leave). And it was a constant political power struggle. It's similar to the fashion world: if something needs to be done, it needs to be done and there is no absconding. And do we know about politics in fashion.

As for the army-issue uniform it was incredibly sterile and boring, but it built discipline. The civilian clothes that most of us wore out of camp when we were allowed to leave weren't anything special either - with menswear it's almost always function over fashion. I don't think it shaped my aesthetic in any way, other than making me want to escape from that world into the world of fashion.

s: With regard to working for other designers, how did you maintain focus on your own ideas while being expected to give so much of your creativity to someone else's vision?

EL: I worked as a pattern cutter for other designers before I launched my own label. As similar as they might seem, the feel of the two roles was different. As a cutter, I was interpreting a sketch, or a drape of another designer and where the creativity is strictly limited to a purely technical process. It was constantly checking with the designer(s) about how they felt with proportions, measurements and lines in order to achieve the best interpretation of what they envisioned. The designers usually pre-decided the fabrics, trims and sometimes the finishings, and I did not have to care about the whole business side of selling the garment. At the end of the day I could just switch my mind off after each garment was done.

However, with my own collections, its a full-on 24 hour engagement. I have to design, create, craft each piece, and balance them against each other so that they work together as a whole collection. Then there's production and sales to look after as well. On the plus side, I no longer have to go back and forth to a third person to check proportions and if they are happy, because it's my label and my vision, and that whole process is internalised when I have my fitting sessions. The creative scope extends beyond the technical into sales and marketing with look books and online promotion, so it is very different indeed.

s: Your holistic approach to your business speaks to a commitment to personal vision and quality that we really don't see much of these days. Do you see yourself conducting business as a one-man operation long-term?

EL: As a start-up, one really has to be able to handle all aspects of the business at least to a satisfactory level. So many creatives cannot balance or even begin to grasp the business acumen that is critical for the industry, because they live in the fantasy bit of fashion. Fantasy is very important as well, but if you cannot balance your books, your dreams are going to end up just that: fantasy. Unless one strikes gold dust and finds some kind of private backer with deep pockets and who wants little or nothing in return, one has to go it alone. Having done this for two, going on to my third season now, I can safely say that on the best day, creativity is only 25% of the whole equation. If you cannot handle the 75% (accounting, pricing, marketing, sourcing etc), you're better off working for someone else than starting your own label.

I do not want to be a OMO (one man operation) long-term. Sure, being small allows me to micro manage and have an incredible control. But as with business in any industry, if it does not grow, it is only going to grow out-dated and irrelevant. I would like to be able to afford some staff too that would take off the intense pressure off my shoulders, but for now that is not a financial possibility.

S: It must be your expertise in pattern cutting that makes the difference in the refinement of your clothes. How do you maintain that couture quality when the manufacturing is out of your hands?

The factories I use are very specialised - not the high-street type of conveyor belt production. When I worked as a cutter, I was constantly aware that after the patterns were done, they would leave my hands and so the more information was on the patterns and spec sheets there was to guide the machinists, the better. I always give them a toile which either I or my assistants have sewn and explain things in great detail in writing, as well as checking back from time to time when questions arise during sampling and production. It takes a while to have a working relationship with any factory, but after a season or two, if they click with you, it should be a long term thing. To date I have had no major problems with my production unit, but I am still learning along the way and constantly pushing my technical and creative boundaries. 

s: Can you tell us a bit about what you've created for SS 2011?

EL: My SS11 collection is called 'The Vanishing Twin', which is the layman's term for Fetus in Fetu (FIF), a rare medical condition where one fetus develops inside another. I was inspired by Stephen King's use of it in his novel 'The Dark Half', and read up further on it. The result is shocking - what doctors thought was a brain tumor turned out to be a foot growing in a boy's brain in Canada, a Bangladeshi man had fully formed limbs and hair and teeth in his gut for 36 years.

This has been translated into the clothing: tailored and draped pieces resemble muscle and tissue, with extra 'bits' growing out of certain pieces. Trousers have in-grown double waistbands, tops have extra straps that grow from unexpected places. But at the end of the day even without knowledge of the concept, the collection really stands by itself with my signature intelligent cutting techniques which I have furthered again this season.

Wow! That's a truly original concept. I'm even more intrigued and excited to see Eugene Lin's spring 2011 collection at London Fashion Week this weekend. Watch for a review of what is sure to be another exquisite collection from this talented and fascinating designer.

To view Eugene Lin's complete collections visit his website at www.eugene-lin.com

swelle.

All images of the Gordian Knot AW 2010 collection, courtesy of Eugene Lin

Sandy and the 1000 Cranes

 

Wouldn't it be nice if instead of finding wads of chewed gum, crisp wrappers and snotty tissues lying about your neighbourhood you stumbled upon a colourful paper crane with a positive message scrawled on it? Placed there just for you to find it and make you smile?

That's what benevolent stranger Sandy is doing for the towns she visits. Her mission is to make 1000 paper cranes with a different positive word on each of them, in different locations. She was inspired by the true story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr, about a Hiroshima woman who developed leukemia after the bombing and from her nursing home death bed, decided to make 1000 paper cranes. According to Japanese folklore, folding 1000 paper cranes allows the folder one granted wish, and hers was to live. She lived to make 644 cranes. Sadako’s friends and family completed the remaining cranes for her.

Sandy began in her hometown of central New Jersey and has to date 'released' 124 cranes in public places around Philadelphia, Montreal, and Quebec City. She encourages people who find her cranes to re-release them in a dry place so others may enjoy them.

If you're in New Jersey, you may want to keep an eye out!

You can follow Sandy's project at her blog, Sandy and the 1000 cranes.

 

 

Regretsy: Making Fun For Good

If Rodarte's second mistake was to collaborate with MAC on a makeup collection named after the notorious Mexican city of Juarez, their first was to create a pair of webby yarn tights that inspired these knock-offs.

Regretsy. Heard of it? Probably. But if not, you know those movies or novels where there's a horrific torture scene and you wonder of the writer, 'How could anyone conceive of such a depraved and hideous act? What is wrong with you?' Well, imagine that person took that idea and instead of writing it down, they looked around their house (or dump, compost heap or graveyard) and made it into an equally disturbing object. And tried to sell it on Etsy or some other kind of DIY online marketplace. Regretsy's April Winchell, AKA Helen Killer, finds these WTF? offenders, along with an endless selection of just simply bad ideas, or nasty executions of these ideas (see above) and brings them to us daily, in hilarious blog form. What makes it so funny is Killer's astute and creative responses to the items, as seen above (that's the kind of creativity we want, folks!), including the contributions of her readers - a winning bid for an Etsy Alchemy project to paint Lady Gaga devouring a unicorn while paparrazi snap shots has to be the ultimate.

Now, I love Etsy. The great thing about them is they provide anyone and everyone the means to sell their handmade creations. The bad thing about them is they provide anyone and everyone the means to sell their handmade creations. Sometimes democracy backfires. Stalin is grinning smuggly somewhere. See:

Yes, after I included Stalin in my post I searched his name on Etsy and not to my surprise, I found a short list of Stalin-related things, such as this matryoshka doll set of Russian leaders. (Does anyone know what that first one says? That splotchy head couldn't belong to anyone but Gorbachev - I loved that guy! - but that sure is a funny spelling of his name. And Stalin's. I'm obviously missing something here. And FYI: if you search Google images for pictures of Mikhail Gorbachev you'll find Ashton Kutcher in a camel coat.)

The point of this post was to highlight something that we don't usually get alongside our fun-makers: good-hearted compensation. Regretsy gives back to those who provide the unintentional humour, or horror. Well, maybe not to the person who thought a fascinator made with the real skull of a cat was a desirable item to add to one's accessory drawer (though the seller may feel proud that it's been filed deep in my subconcious, awaiting a guest appearance in one of my upcoming nightmares. Oh geez, I just heard a cat meowing outside. That nightmare is happening tonight).

All profits from Regretsy's merchandise go toward helping charities - over $10,000 so far and counting - and directly to Etsy sellers in need, such as Veronica of Ronnie’s Tender Heart (her Etsy shop is here) who is battling leukemia for the third time at age 22. Her friends have set up a shop to sell bracelets to help fund her medical bills not covered by insurance. She is currently in ICU fighting pneumonia.

Regretsy is running two auctions of bags that include fun and goofy Etsy merchandise as well as Regretsy, the book. Get the full details here.

April Winchell: I have added you to my list of smart and funny chicks that make me blow snot.

The Swelle Life on Lua Jewelry Blog

Recently I was interviewed by the really lovely Lucia of Lua Jewelry, a kindred blog that also celebrates the beautiful things in design and that around us. I must publicly thank Lucia for waiting so patiently to receive a photo to accompany the interview (I liked her questions), I much prefer to be behind the camera. And if the difference between the photos of myself and that of my models tells me anything, it's that the camera prefers that, too. (And no I don't have cramps, I'm just clutching at my coat for some reason!)

Lucia is based in Santa Domingo and Miami, loves her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and brings us daily posts that are visually intriguing and not cheap with the words when it counts. It's a blog that gives a nice jolt of inspirational energy when I visit so please do take a look!

You can read the interview with Yours Truly here 

Thank you, Lucia! ♥

The Dream State Fashion of Salvador Dalí

 
Mae West lips sofa, Salvador Dalí, 1937
 

 

I wrote this article last week for Models and Moguls and I'm quite surprised it's taken me this long to do so. I was a full-on freak for Surrealism when I discovered it in high school, the idea of this collective of European adults doing things that seemed juvenile but were actually challenging conventional notions of what is art, what is good taste, what is reality, how long and stiff can one guy's moustache get before it pokes another's eye out, validated me as the 16 year-old who fit in but never felt like it. There was something more to things than meets the eye, I knew and they knew it. But no around me seemed to care about that and they wondered why I did. The synaesthesia must have played a major role in this but at the end of the day we all need to connect with something. I don't know exactly why strange juxtapositions are so intriguing, maybe some of us want to live in a perpetual dream state, but if university dorm room walls are any indication, people love a melting clock. 

The following article is a superficial rundown of Salvador Dalí's contribution to fashion. Dalí is a favourite of mine (though the teenage thrill is now gone), as he is a favourite of many for his incredible technical ability with painting and his intriguing dreamscapes. And undoubtedly he is loved for his larger-than-life personality and his other ventures - artistic and commercial pursuits for which the scope became increasingly broad, as hilariously illustrated by his appearance on What's My Line? in the 1950s:

 

The most notorious, prolific and ultimately commercial of the Surrealists – that revolutionary group of artists, poets and provocateurs that grew out of Dadaism in 1920s Paris – was undoubtedly Salvador Dalí. The Spanish Catalan best known for his masterly technical skill as a painter and perversely sexualized subjects had his hand in just about anything he could put his name on, due in part to the push from his wife Gala who was keen to collect a paycheck and not so bothered by the virtue of integrity. However, the signed blank lithographs and commercials for Alka Seltzer aside, most of Dalí’s forays into ventures outside of his main discipline were inspired, original, and hugely influential.

Case in point: anything we see with lips these days could be considered a direct reference to Dali’s iconic Mae West Lips Sofa from 1937 and his Ruby Lips brooch, created in 1949, also based on the sexy actress’ famous bouche. British designer Lulu Guinness is one who owes him her trademark padded lips clutch.

The wildly eccentric artist brought his most famous, Freudian-inspired and dreamlike motifs to life as three dimensional objects through sculpture, furniture, jewellery and fashion. Dali loved fashion and displayed his flamboyant style in his dress and the way he wore his moustache – long, black, waxed straight out to the sides and curled at the ends. He was friends with two of fashion’s most legendary designers, Paris-based rivals Coco Chanel, who inspired him to design clothes, and the avant-garde Elsa Schiaparelli. It was even rumoured that Chanel had an affair with the young Dali, in the days when his facial hair was still neat and understated (one couldn’t imagine the fuss-free designer dealing with the impractical thing that moustache was to become).

The Italian Schiaparelli was hugely influenced by Dada and Surrealism and incorporated the bizarre juxtapositions that were characteristic of these movements into her designs. One can see why Chanel referred to her as ‘that Italian artist who makes clothes’, though this was likely not meant to be a complement from the outspoken and fiercely competitive designer. Dali’s influence has been identified in Schiaparelli designs such as the lamb-cutlet hat and a 1936 day suit with pockets simulating a chest of drawers, based on his painting The Anthropomorphic Chest of Drawers, which was later referenced in a dress he created with Christian Dior in 1950.

 

Skeleton dress. Elsa Schiaparelli collaboration with Salvador Dalí, 1938.

Collaborations between Schiaparelli and Dali produced four iconic pieces that were clearly influenced by the artist:

Lobster Dress, 1937. This simple white silk evening dress with a crimson waistband featured a large lobster painted by Dali onto the skirt. The lobster is one of Dali’s best known motifs which he began incorporating into works from 1934, most notably New York Dream-Man Finds Lobster in Place of Phone, 1935,  and the mixed-media Lobster Telephone, 1936. His design for Schiaparelli was interpreted into a fabric print by the leading silk designer Sache. It was famously worn by Wallis Simpson in series of photographs by Cecil Beaton before her marriage to Edward VIII.

Tears Dress, 1938. A slender pale blue evening gown printed with a Dali design of trompe l’oeil rips and tears was worn with a thigh-length veil with real tears carefully cut out and lined in pink and magenta. The print was intended to give the illusion of torn animal flesh, the tears printed to represent fur on the reverse of the fabric and suggest that the dress was made of animal pelts turned inside out. Figures in ripped, skin-tight clothing suggesting flayed flesh appeared in three of Dali’s 1936 paintings. This puts to rest any notion that the ‘ripped' trend is a relatively recent innovation.

Skeleton Dress, 1938. Designed for the Circus Collection, this stark black crepe dress used trapunto quilting to create padded ribs, spine and leg bones. Many designers today have referenced this dress in their designs.

Shoe Hat, 1937. In 1933, Dali was photographed by his wife Gala with one of her slippers balanced on his head. In 1937 he sketched designs for a shoe hat for Schiaparelli which she featured in her Fall-Winter 1937-38 collection. The hat, shaped like a woman’s high heeled shoe, had the heel standing straight up and the toe tilted over the wearer’s forehead. This hat was worn by Gala, Schiaparelli herself, and by the Franco-American editor of the French Harpers Bazaar, heiress Daisy Fellowes, who was one of Schiaparelli’s best clients.

Dali also designed the Aphrodisiac Jacket of 1936 and several pieces of jewellery for women. In 1981 he drew upon his painting Apparition of the Face of the Aphrodite of Knidos in a Landscape to create bottles for the perfume Salvador Dali Homme et Femme. Dali had evolved (for lack of a better word) from artist to one of the most intriguing and influential brands of the 20th century, and the reverberations of his work will likely continue indefinitely – if our endless fascination with melting clocks is any indication.

The Hauntingly Beautiful Dollhouses of Wallington, Pt. 2

 

Carrying on from Tuesday's post on the enchanting dollhouses of Wallington, here are more rooms with unbelievable detail, like the little buckets under the shelf in the pantry on which several plates of food are waiting, as if the family is about to sit down and eat at any minute. Or how each of the mirrors and picture frames are completely different and highly ornate as was the style at the time.

If you enjoy these, well good! There are lots more from the Wallington house to come...

 

The Hauntingly Beautiful Dollhouses of Wallington, Pt. 1

 

I'm working like a mad woman to launch Swelle Boutique (it's nearly there!) but I wanted to leave you with something special should it be a couple days before I'm able to post again. I visited Wallington a few weeks ago, a National Trust property in Morpeth, Northumberland (that's in the north east of England) with a grand mansion and gorgeous lawns, lakes, parkland and woodland. There's also a beautiful walled garden which we didn't have time to see, but it was cold and gloomy so we'll save that for a lovely day.

I'll tell you more about Wallington in future posts (there is quite a bit to show) but for now here is the first part of the dollhouses from the 17th century mansion's dollhouse room which contains one huge house - like an apartment block - and several smaller ones, the interiors of which are magnificent and shabby all at once. The detail of the period furniture and decor (early 1900s) is breathtaking and some of it is in quite a state of disrepair - evident in the wear on the fabrics and wallpapers and headboards askew - and it creates the feeling that these rooms have actually been lived in by the heavy chested tenants (see below, they are heaving!) for the past century. The effect is utterly charming.

The photos are a bit blurred, the rooms in the dollhouses were very dim and I was shooting through their tiny windows. But it kind of lends to the ghostly feeling and apparently I'm lucky to have had the opportunity to take the photos, it's only been a year since they've allowed cameras. 

Want to see more? Here's Part 2

Beach Blues

I haven't enhanced the colour in these photos, it was simply a gorgeous azure blue day at our beach and some parts of the sky were just vivid. It''s hard to believe that the North Sea, so grey and forbidding and at times fiercely turbulent in winter (only the latter keeps the year-round surfers away bar the odd nutter) could be so calm and saturated and beautiful. But will it last? Ha! This is the north east of England!

The beach was tiny at high tide when we arrived after 11 am and three hours later it had tripled in size when the tide was moving out, and it was getting very busy. It's still never as crazy as those Florida beaches where you couldn't fit a hand between the umbrellas. It's the beach that cures my homesickness.

 

The North Sea may be freezing but it's clean and crystal clear! I'll take that over warm and dirty any day (I'm talking to you, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, where I swam when I was younger before they were deemed too disgusting and dangerous for humans). Yes, this will do just fine. Hmm...on second thought, apologies to the aforementioned Great Lakes, it's not really your fault, is it?

Macarons for Breakfast

  

Yesterday morning I was surprised with some Laduree macarons from a very lovely and generous friend - you don't expect to be suddenly eating Parisian treats in the north east of England, especially on the way home from the school run! I wasn't able to get home without having one and I offered one to someone who passed by as I was choosing my first victim (he had introduced me and lovely friend so I think it was warranted), then I had two more at home. It was painful trying to stop there and pretend they weren't in the same room as me. But they're all gone now. It was great while it lasted. Merci beaucoup mon cher, Katherine!

Paradise Found: The Quarry Garden at Belsay

   

A little while ago I did a series of posts with photos from my first visit to Belsay Hall, Castles and Gardens (you can read those here, just scroll down) in the beautiful Northumberland countryside. I had yet to show the quarry garden which actually made me gasp as I walked into it and got an eyeful of its awesome rock formations, grotto and blossom trees. I could live in those gardens. I got to visit again when I was invited to the press day for their latest art exhibition called Extraordinary Measures which was a fantastic experience. I'll be posting about it just as soon as I can finish it. It was a fascinating exhibition, there's a lot to talk about!

And on to the gardens - are they not absolutely beautiful?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos by Denise Grayson @ The Swelle Life

Cupcake Monday! The French Pastries Edition

Ladurée's Blackcurrant-Violet Religieuse

This Cupcake Monday is especially torturous. Last week at Dream Sequins I wrote about Plia Designs' luxury phone cases and their latest collection inspired by French pastries: macarons, the Religieuse and the Saint Honoré. I had the Saint Honoré at Ladurée on Champs Élysées last spring - I believe it was pistache et fraise - but whatever it was, it was divine. I didn't want it to end. I made embarrassing noises as I ate it. So I thought I'd show the real things here to accompany these delicious little iPhone covers. 

 

Ladurée's Le Saint Honoré Rose-Framboise

The pastry collection of iPhone covers from Plia Designs:

Sweet Paul: The Magazine

There's Sweet Paul, the crafty food and prop stylist; Sweet Paul the blog; and now Sweet Paul the Magazine. The New York based Norwegian with one of the most delightful, useful and fun blogs around has been working hard to put his debut 'Delicious Spring'[ issue together, a beautifully photographed collection of 'easy and elegant' recipes, DIY crafts for the home and crafter profiles, entertaining ideas and whatever else Sweet Paul's innovative and charming mind conjures up for us. 

You can find out more about Sweet Paul here, and browse the magazine here.

Dog lovers: This issue includes a recipe to make your own Peanut Bone dog treats! (You could even share a few, they sound pretty tasty!)

I looove Eggs Benedict, I'm making these this weekend!