Studs Galore!!!

In my final range for this year, many of my garments will feature heavy stud work. While researching studs as embellishments on jackets I came across this amazing jacket by French designer Antonin Tron. I was blown away and could not stop thinking how many hours it could have taken to complete! Bejewelled menswear that actually works!

My Fashion Illustrations

I thought today I should add some images of my own illustrations as it is one of my main interests. I have always loved drawing and used to find myself drawing all the time, No matter where I was I had a pen and paper ready! More recently I've lost momentum however I am trying to pick it up again especially now that our final project for fourth year will require putting aside a heap of time for illustrating!






These illustrations are some I did for a project in second semester last year. It was a project in which I started developing a different handwriting to what I had in the past. It is a style I hope to evolve and refine and bring into my collection this year.

Album of the Week! - Angus and Julia Stone 'A Book Like This'

I saw Angus and Julia Stone perform a few years ago now, however this album is still at the top of my cd pile. I was in Gertrude and Alice in Bondi the other day and heard 'Soldier' which reminded me of how often I used to listen to it. Angus and Julia Stone's 'A Book Like This' is one of my favourite pics to illustrate and draw along to because of its calming, atmospheric sound. This brother and sister duo are ecclectic, other worldly, individual and expressive.




If you have not tuned into Angus and Julia Stone, I advise you do because you are missing out.This album is a journey into a stunning otherworldy story not to be missed.

Drape Drape

Draping on the stand is not a strong point of mine. Recently I have had to do a lot of drape work but found it helpful draping one half then creating a mirror image. I came up with some interesting shapes and textures and have included some successful ones below.

Tim Walker - Fashion Photography

Keeping in with the "Alice in Wonderland", eclectic, euphoric theme I have touched on this week, today I am adding a shout out to Tim Walker, an inspirational fashion photographer who whisks you away to a new undiscovered world with each shoot. I came across a great quote from an interview Walker did with SHOW Studio "You look through the viewfinder and there's a window to something magical. You haven't seen it before...you see something you haven't yet caught...it's such a thrill..." I really like this idea of viewing photography as a 'window to something magical' as it is an amazing concept to capture a moment in time you can never capture the same again. Below are just a couple of images out of the many that I am inspired by through colour, composition and content.




Some of Tim Walker's images remind me of the mood evoked in Bill Henson's photography as there is a similar air of mystery and intrigue. Both manage to develop a puzzling sense of reality evoked by the seemingly disjointed composition and quirky use of subjects relating with their environment seen in both their works.

Hugo's @ Manly

Today was one of the most gorgeous, sunny days in Sydney and I had to spend it out and about! I visited Manly for the day and had an amazingly relaxing day shopping, eating, drinking and ending with watching the sunset at Hugos on the Wharf. The atmosphere and the decor was gorgeous as a warm glow filled pockets of the restaurant with delicate tea light candles and soft modern light fixtures. Ive included some 'happy snaps' I took of the sun setting and the euphoric surroundings from where we sat as it took away my breath the beautiful moments nature gives us. I have included some in my design journal as I was in awe of the colours of the sky and the way the shadows of trees and buildings created skeletal structures on the horizon. Do make a trip to Manly and take the ferry to enhance the magical experience. Sydney is the most beautiful harbour in the world and there is nothing better than feeling the breeze and being on the water viewing the landscape from another point of view.


Cocktails of course!



Amazing desserts, chocolate souffle and banana and walnut pizza...need I say more!!!





The colours captured here and the skeletal skyline creates an air of nostalgia, mystery and an unknown sense of the future as the environment is ever changing.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK! - Paramore 'Brand New Eyes'

Did anyone see Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland? Well if you did you would remember the featured track from Paramore 'Brick by Boring Brick'. I saw the group when they came to Sydney in February and was blown away by their energy and electric sound! Their album 'Brand New Eyes' is a journey of discovery, life and growing stronger through life experiences. I have been listening to it lately while working on my design journal for my collection with a cup of tea in hand, getting up every now and then for a cheeky dance!!

Have a listen and you'll see what I mean...

Yulli's on Crown ♥

I think I found my favourite vegetarian Thai restaurant tonight and I am in love! It so happens that my favourite cuisine is Thai food and my vegetarian friend suggested we have dinner at Yulli's, a cosy find on Crown street Surry Hills which offers a great variety of modern vegetarian dishes with a Thai twist. I work and spend a lot of my time in Surry Hills and I think it is one of the most creative, eclectic and inspirational suburbs in Sydney as there are always new places to explore and exciting haunts to pass the time in.

Richard Gray - Fashion Illustration

Richard Gray is an amazing fashion illustration from the UK who I have admired for a long time now and have looked to for illustration inspiration. His style is eccentric, bold and quirky with Japanese influences. Richard Gray has worked with Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Agent Provocateur. Gray has also worked with magazines such as Vogue and V Magazine with his illustrations being included in several renowned fashion publications including ‘Fashion Illustration Next’ by Laird Borrelli published by Thames and Hudson and in ‘Wonderland’ edited by Robert Klanten, Sven Ehmann, Birga Meyer published by Die Gestalten Verlag. Gray's illustrations have a surreal, other worldly quality which I am inspired by. I find my illustrations aspire to his in that they are clean but quirky and unrealistic in that the figures depicted have a robotic, disjointed edge to them. I have included Richard Gray in my blog to hopefully inspire and bring out the illustrator in you too!

The Darnell Collection

We had a fantastic guest speaker in our tutorial at uni today. Charlotte Smith, the curator of the Fashion and Textile Gallery in Surry Hills joined us and brought with her key pieces from her extensive Darnell Collection. The Darnell Collection for those of you who don't know, is a vintage clothing collection Charlotte originally inherited from her godmother and expanded, with the oldest piece dating back to the 1700s. We were taken through the decades and shown key features in the fashions of the past and how they evolved and have in turn influenced current fashions. I found the talk very interesting and relevant to myself as I originally became interested in studying costume and did explored some avenues in the industry before coming to UTS.

Below are two Victorian bodices that caught my eye. Charlotte made a point of the fact that these garments were made with the idea that the internal structure was just as important as the external. This could clearly be seen in the amount of work and care taken in perfecting the detail on the inside which is the side you don't see.






In 2006 I took a gap year between school and University and travelled around the UK. I spent most of my time in London and every couple of weeks I would visit the Vintage Clothing Fair in Hammersmith. One visit I found a bodice scrunched up in a pile of black fabric, it was like finding a diamond in the rough! I could not believe my luck when I was told it was 10 pounds! And I thought I would include a picture because Charlotte's visit reminded me I had it! It is interesting to note the way the sleeve is shaped in a curve, instantly revealing the lifestyle the woman who might have worn this would have led as it suggests restricted movement and a sense of poise. The colour, being mostly black, also suggests the wearer may have been in mourning for the loss of a husband perhaps. It is fascinating what the features of historical garments can reveal about the people who may have worn them.

Album of the week! Radio Head OK COMPUTER

When I rediscovered Bill Henson in my high school art diary last week, I was reminded of that year at school and my mood at the time. During that school project and being introduced to Henson's work for the first time I was listening to Radio Head, OK COMPUTER. On reflection I think If you were to look at one of Henson's macabre works while listening to the track Karma Police, it would make for an interesting match. The slow pace and hopeless air in the notes used, I think, is alike to Henson's desperate but still photographs. It is as though there is a weight in the air in the song and in Henson's works. I just thought it was an interesting parallel to explore.