If I was a colour.

If I looked to my friends and asked them what colour I would be, they would say black. My wardrobe mainly consists of black and white clothing, because I believe that these colours look best on me. Don't get me wrong, I love colour, I wouldn't leave my house without bright statement lipstick. Black and white explains my personality, one day I'm up and the next day I'm down, its odd because I'm never somewhere inbetween.

Summer is approaching, and the last few items I have purchased have been rather colourful. I love love love the trend of clashing bright colours, it creates such a bold statement, and emulates a quirky personality- which when I'm on an 'up day' I have! I am going to start by adding brighter lipsticks to my already vast collection, then begin to add brighter statement pieces to my outfits- who knows, I may be able to carry off this trend too.

Elle and Vogue's April issues had some fantastic photos of this current trend, therefore I have used some of these photos to create two mood boards that show off the 'clash of colour', both of which I will be using for my portfolio.

The fear of white walls.

From a very early age, whenever I went to a new place, it would be my prerogative to find a souvenir to remind me of that specific place; Even if the souvenir was a tacky fridge magnet or an ‘I love London T-shirt’. Mum and Dad used to call them ‘the tacky shops’, me and my sister took every opportunity we had to go in and have a good look around, leaving our parents outside trying to figure out where to go next.

Since the beginning of my fashion course, I have come to the realisation that collecting such items could potentially help me. With the exception of fridge magnets and T-shirts, collecting endless amounts of postcards, and taking photos of everything that catches my eye, could be collectively put together to create something visually pleasing. My Dad has taught me that I should carry my camera with me everywhere, if you just stop where you are and look around I can guarantee that you will see something beautiful. Such as the graffiti that lined the walls in Barcelona, the mosaic patterns on a random street lamp in New York, Covent Garden’s tube stop, and even Nottingham’s market square.

My obsession with lining my walls with endless amounts of magazine pages started when I came to university, as much as I hate to rip a page out of Vogue, those pages deserve to be looked at. Every time I enter my room, I stop and look around. After each briefing on a new project, my walls give me inspiration to create new ideas. Added to my walls are endless amounts of obscure postcards I gathered from New York, my own work, flyers; the list could go on really. I guess I have a slight fear of ‘white walls’ I need to be surrounded by pictures and things that remind me of being at home. Thank the lord my parents let me go into those ‘tacky shops’ if it wasn’t for them, I would literally be staring at a blank canvas.

New York: The Gallery.

We were slightly lost, yet me and Daisy getting lost always led to good things. We were walking down a small street in Little Italy, unbeknown to us that we were about to walk into something that we believe know one else from our course would have seen. We walked into a tiny gallery which housed shoes that were stuck on canvases. Each shoe design was different, covered in; forks, popcorn, fingers and bugs, gummy bears, cigarettes, tampons, staples, jelly willies, smashed up records and gift wrap, and lastly toy soldiers and stuffing. The designs must sound so odd to you, but they were incredible and so innovative, such a simple idea of covering a shoe and turning it into a truly brilliant piece of art. As we were walking around the tiny studio, the owner appeared. He was fantastically hilarious; he was financially stable enough to open a gallery merely just to show up and coming artists work. This particular art work was produced by a man who was aged 19, I would love to one day be financially stable to enough to be able to do that for someone. A genuine man who told us that we had ‘made his day’ and how ‘lovely we were’. It just shows, getting lost isn’t the worse thing in the world.

New York: Googoo Dolls.

A typical American pub that you see in the movies; rowdy men surrounding the bar, the most gorgeous rugged bartender, and a shy yet beautiful waitress sitting on the end of the bar, doing her best to ignore all the men that were trying to talk to her. We walk in shivering and worrying whether or not we should be in there- the bartender was incredibly welcoming and the men smiled politely at us both. The music was amazing, old school indie rock that had me and Daisy singing beautifully too. The meal we had was literally the best meal I have ever tasted, there were only four other people in there, yet our food took an hour to cook. It was good to know that it was all being prepared from scratch. It was a simple meal of a chicken burger with red and yellow peppers, and the chips, which were seasoned with what tasted like heaven. What made us laugh the most was when I sneezed; all of the men at the bar turned and said ‘bless you’. In England it is not customary to even talk to a stranger, let alone say ‘bless you’ if someone sneezes. When I next go to New York, I would love to go back to that pub; I think that may be the only meal I have ever taken my time over eating.

New York: The Vintage poster store.

I like to avoid white space; my room at university is covered in endless photographs, pictures from magazines, and my all time favourite collectables-postcards. I need to have something to constantly look as it always seems to give me ideas for a piece of work I am given. On our walk to the Meatpacking district, we noticed a vintage poster shop. Posters lined the windows which completely drew us in, and we were happily welcomed by two men who owned the shop. They showed us many different posters and postcards, and vintage journals on photography and various other art related topics. We were told to take a journal and to choose between a collection of posters which we could take home for free- it was amazing to meet two people that were so passionate about what they sold, and they loved the fact that we were visiting from England. I bought around twenty postcards in that particular shop which they both seemed extremely pleased about. It was an amazing way to begin the day- basically Americans are just brilliant.

New York: Resurrection

This particular store was like a dream world for me. At the back of the store, vintage wardrobes lined the back wall. Wardrobes which contained vintage Chanel suits, still completely intact and as stunning as they would have been when they were first created. Looking at the craftsmanship that went into each suit was incredible, each stitch was so intricate, and the lining as well done as the care that had been put into the suit itself. After reading so much about Chanel, I didn’t expect anything less. It was just bewildering that I had a vintage Chanel suit in my hands, I just felt so lucky. This is another thing I will do one day; I will go back there and purchase a vintage Chanel suit. Even if I don’t have anything to wear it too, I can just stare at it right?

New York: Times Square.

The lights, the billboards, the music, the amount of people- Times Square was incredible. We went at night in order to make the most of the bright lights and the general atmosphere that Times Square gives off. It was hard to notice that it was below freezing, due to me just standing there in awe. It did make me laugh when I saw a giant billboard of Piers Morgan, I had no idea he was so famous in New York. The shops that surround Times Square must do incredibly well, being positioned under giant billboards and bright lights you are bound to go in. We went into the MAC shop and found it exceedingly difficult to move around. Times Square really does connote the term ‘Bright lights big city’.

New York: The Prada Epicentre

It was completely baffling, first off because we were actually acknowledged when entering the store, I’m not going to sit here and tell you about the service in English designer stores, yet the service is completely different. We were smiled at, asked if we wanted help and were not followed around the entire time. They obviously knew why we were in there; personally I hardly looked like the ‘Prada type’ on that particular day, I was soaking wet from the snow, my hair was indescribable and I was wearing a giant coat and scarf that clearly wasn’t designer.

The clothes, shoes and bags were absolutely stunning, me and Daisy looked at each other and said ‘One day, just one day we will be living in New York and we will be able to come to Prada and buy whatever we want’- one can hope right?

As we were walking into another ‘wardrobe’ we were both completely stifled, a man who was being helped by an assistant picking up everything in sight for his girlfriend/wife/daughter (we couldn’t quite tell) turned around and complimented Daisy on her coat. He told her that it was ‘amazing’ and asked where she got it from in an incredibly strong American accent, which further enhanced the excitement that Daisy was being complimented in Prada PRADA. Daisy went extremely red and began stuttering, a side I have never seen of Daisy. ‘From Zara- it was only £30.00, thank you’ the man smiled at us both, and I don’t think he understood why we were both going so red. We practically ran out of the store

To me, that day will be known as ‘The day Daisy was complimented in Prada.’

New York: Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)

Situated on yet another wonderful Avenue- 7th, The Fashion Institute of Technology was everything I thought it would be and more, imagine being able to go to a university that was smack bang in the centre of New York, surrounded by endless shops and just the general atmosphere of New York. We went to see two exhibitions that were taking place, we were incredibly lucky that we had the entire exhibition to ourselves as they had opened it early for us.

The first exhibition we saw was named ‘His and Hers’ which looked into the concept of comparisons between men and women’s clothing. The 20th Century saw the introduction of Paul Poirot- an exquisite designer, who freed women from corsets and introduced the ‘hobble’ skirt. He influenced my favourite designer Chanel, who took to the extremes of virtually diminishing any trace of corseted styles to let women breathe. She was inspired by men’s clothing, and completely revolutionised women’s fashion. From an Alexander McQueen dress from his 2008 fall collection, too suits by Versace, I felt incredibly intoxicated with the fact that I was stood in a room, centimetres away from such beautiful designs that completely adapt the fashion industry.

The second exhibition we saw was ‘Japan Now’, the designs were impeccable and completely different to European and American fashion. In the 1980’s, Japanese fashion was revolutionised, Introducing the ‘new appreciation of avant guarde fashion’ and the ‘beauty of imperfection’. The 2010 collection of Japanese men’s ensembles were like costumes, using materials such as green nylon, metallic’s and leather, it was clear to me that this particular designer was incredibly original. The craftsmanship from each Japanese designer was outstanding, such as the outfits for ‘Lolita’s’ and ‘gothic Lolita’s’ which really reminded me of odd dolls outfits. Televisions surrounded the mannequins showing videos of models wearing the outfits, sending a clear message that the outfits reflected each models witty personality. As fantastic as the previous exhibition was, it was so incredible to see this particular exhibition as it broadened my view on different takes on what ‘fashion’ is to each individual person and culture.

New York: Goodbye England.

I am not going to wake up. I am going to miss my plane to New York. Alarm set. SIX TIMES. Waking up two hours before actually getting ready may be a tad extreme, but it is New York that I’m going too, not a family holiday to Wales.

Me and Daisy did make it, prompt and on time obviously. Excruciatingly long bus journey then arriving at the airport, who new Heathrow was so big. One of my worst fears is flying, but thankfully on the way there it was completely fine, plus I got to watch three new movies. Seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time out of the window hit me like a very large bus. I was actually about to land in New York. I looked terrible, I hadn’t slept for around 24 hours, but none of that mattered. New York has always been a dream for me; I never knew that the dream would actually come true.

Like all Americans, our tour guide was extremely friendly and eccentric, bus journeys are usually terrible, but this one was amazing. Seeing New York for the first time; driving through Queens, seeing my first yellow taxi and yellow school bus, the skyline, the endless amounts of American flags. It really was like going to another world. Then we arrived to Manhattan. Yes, MANHATTAN. No words can describe it. Even though we were seriously knackered, we just chucked our stuff in our hotel room, and went straight onto 5th Avenue. Oh the endless amounts of designer shops and restaurants, and everyone is so polite. Rockefeller gardens (Me and Daisy failed to realise that’s what the ‘pretty building’ was) Far, far too many photos were taken, but I literally couldn’t get enough of the window displays. Then we literally fell into bed.