Production

patterns

Is the UK coming back into Fashion?

(With no disrespect I assure you) has English fashion lost its beauty? Thousands of clothing sweeping the stores, people buying bags and bags of clothes from the high street stores- to gain what? A wardrobe of clothing made with distain rather than passion. Do we think of the chain that belongs to every garment when we trade with our money at the cash desk? (Some little old lady knitted my jumper – no mate she didn’t, a factory in India knitted it)
We complain about quality of clothing, how much did we pay of that garment? Exactly! How can we expect quality if were not prepared to pay for it, after all nothing comes for free.
Everything has to be ‘cheaper’ or ‘easier’ why are we so lazy… Should we be prepared to spend more on our clothes? I’m not talking hundreds.. All I’m saying is should we really spend £1 on a pair of pants from Primark? And in some cases I have spent more than £1 on pants (a lot of cases actually I’m a snob when it comes to underwear) back to the point-, which is, even when we spend more, do we really get more? Sometimes when we do pay more money on our clothes and its doesn’t feel worth it. How annoying!

All the stores are fighting for the cheapest clothes, the cheapest underwear the cheapest food… but what cost does this have on our country in the long term….? Surely at cheap selling cost, there has to be cheap manufacture costs, which means the manufacture is out of the country, the suppliers are more than likely out of the country (or working out of the country) so what is it that the UK brings to the table when it comes to fashion. Were acting as the middleman… and in all stories, the middleman doesn’t last very long. So what do we do? Can UK manufacture come back?

All I know is I’m fed up of my dam clothes falling apart. The clothes I buy from charity shops that were made 10+ years ago are unbelievably better quality than the clothes I purchase now…
Is it quality or quantity? Do we want something that will last a lifetime, or that will last a few washes?
I remember when I would dress up in my mother’s clothes, dance around in her shoes and prance around in her dresses and jackets… those items after 20 years are now in my wardrobe and I still wear them. Will I be able to give my children my clothes when iv become to ft and un-cool to wear them.
Change needs to happen… how? Well ….I still working on that one.

Has Vintage taken over Charity?

As a Fashion neurotic I have admired the old finds in lost charity shops for years. Going on trips with my mother and Nannan around charity shops finding items that have been thrown out of unwanted homes and placing them in mine. My Nan always said ‘one persons rubbish is another person’s treasure.

I love finding charity pieces, whether they are clothing, bags or books and imagining a story behind them, my imagination would go wild depending on the smell, style and condition.

A couple of weeks ago I went into one of my favourite charity shops, The stock was running low leaving only a few pieces, thousands of pots and pans though, ‘the boutique lady came back again’ I turn around to see Betty, the cute little old lady who minds the shop on Thursdays.

‘What boutique lady Betty?’

‘The lady I was telling you about last time, she comes in and takes things to London’

After chatting to Betty, I came to find that clothes and accessories are bought in bulk at the tag price, taken to Vintage boutiques and sold for twice as much. Is this fair? On one hand it is, as the clothes in the shop have a definite sale, raising the minimum money for Charity. Fashion/Charity boutiques are making money and are starting to become a continuing fashion phenomenon. The plus side (as well as great style of course) people re-using the old and some what forgotten, We live in such a ‘If its broke don’t fix it’ world the old treasures get thrown away. But now/recently the old is being re used.brought back to life in some respects.

So….. In moving the clothes to fashion cities, the local shoppers like myself miss out on the unusual great finds. I cant travel to London every time I want a classic charity find. Little dramatic, but you get my point?…. Should the Charity shops stay the same, maintaining the cute meaningful shops as they are, reflecting in its appearance what it is and what it stands for….. or should the best bits be moved to where the target audience is in the masses, and decorated them so to attract them?

The Dear Nannan  Label is a strong unique collection of clothing combining two very influential generations.

Using fabrics that tell stories, this unique collection creates clothing for men and women who are creatively confident and individual with their image.  This collection has created shapes that are youthful and fashionable as well as including an essence of sophistication and class that has recently been lost and forgotten in the quick turnaround of clothing in the industry of today.

This collection is based on the loving relationship between a Granddaughter and her Grandmother. It is based on the time in which their close relationship unexpectedly came apart. The Granddaughter was very close to her Grandmother and when she passed away felt she had lost one of the most influential people in her life.

This inspiring collection is 100% inspired by the personality, life and love of the Grandmother. Everything from her clothes, front room, personality and wisdom has been sewn into this collection.  Fabrics have been individually sourced for the collection to tell stories about the Granddaughter and the Grandmother’s relationship. Fabrics and patterns such as sofa and curtain materials have created a beautiful collection that is expressing the love and respect of two generations through the art of fashion.

Love

Girl with a Letter

YOUTH ISN’T WASTED ON THE YOUNG

A new chapter begins

Today was my first day at the TopMan design room. I think it went well. I hope it went well. Everyone was really nice so made it less scary. Walking down Oxford street on my way to the Arcadia Building I had a sudden feeling of happiness. It was a weird feeling as I hadnt felt that happy for a while. After breaking it off for good with Jake I have been feeling very happy lately and today was a cherry on the top of my thoughts securing my mind that I had made the right decision. My only regret is not making that decision sooner. I smile now, happy that I am here in London and happy that the weight on my shoulders have lifted, soon to be replaced though with the load of work I have to do. which is nothing to be sad about