MARY KATRANTZOU SPRING/SUMMER 2014

Recently on my art foundation course we have all been finalising our ideas and designing our final garments. I have got my prints and designs sorted (I will be showing them soon don't worry!) but have taken a while on choosing what shapes I would like. I stumbled across this collection from 2014 and I instantly fell in love and found the shapes I wanted. I was torn between a long, silky, flowy dress or a shorter, more structured dress but after looking at this collection I have settled on a shorter dress using a satin fabric which has both structure and shine (perfect for my designs!).

I hope to recreate some similar shapes within my own work as I really like the shapes and structures within this collection.

This is probably one of my favourite shapes as I love the huge pleat in the centre of the dress. I also like the higher neck and the baby-doll style with the waistline not being emphasized as much.

This dress reminds me of co-cords, I really like how the top looks almost separate from the rest of the dress. It has multiple pleats which I really like and really interesting shapes on the sides.

I love the riffles at the top of the dress, this is something that I hadn't considered using before so it could be a good idea to look at. I also like the two layers, it looks so simple (but very complicated to make!).

This is a very interesting style and probably one that I won't be using, however the multi-layering and extra panels make it very unique and interesting to look at.

I like the strapless element to this dress and like how it uses multiple prints and almost looks like a coat or cape added to it. The shapes in this dress are some of my favourites.

I hope you like the shapes I have been looking at. I'm aware they are a bit wacky and extravagant for everyday wear but that's the look I am going for! I am going to take inspiration from these dresses and create some of my own styles and hope they turn out okay! Take a look at the others in this collection, there are some more lovely designs that i'm sure everyone can take some inspiration from.

Thankyou for reading,

Love from Georgia

xxx

Photo credit: www.vogue.co.uk

MORE DESTRUCTION OF BEAUTY TEXTILE SAMPLES

I wanted to include some more of my 'destruction of beauty' samples to update you on my foundation course work. I am still experimenting and deciding what I want to do for my final garments, however I have enjoyed using different, strange materials and want to carry on using most of the techniques I have discovered along the way! I love how most of my favourite ideas were discovered by mistake and by accidents I made along the way, this is what makes my project and the art foundation in itself so interesting!

I have included more transfer printing and silk screen printing, however this time I have added some more burning into my work and have refined my ideas more. My work is now starting to relate more to my ideas and I can see it all coming together a bit better!

I hope you like my samples even if they are a bit overly destroyed and strange! 

Print screen samples using multiple colours

Transfer print sample with gorilla glue. This expanded and changed colour as it dried which I wasn't expecting.

Transfer print cut with a scalpel, then dipped in black paint with pieces of rusty metal, this is supposed to relate to the pollution of the sea with oil spills and washed up deberry.

Ripped transfer print with twigs burnt into it. It was then dipped into brown paint to represent mud with more twigs sprinkled on top.

A ruined print screen copy with twigs burnt into it. I like the shape this created.

Negative screen print with pieces of wood burnt into it. My burnt samples represent burning down rainforests. 

Original negative teal screen print with wood added to it. I then print screened back over it in a lighter colour which stood out against the darker teal green. I also ripped the other side to add more destruction.

Screen print on silk with a sheer fabric folded over the top.

Screen print on stitched together silk using bright summery colours. I also added pieces of rusty metal as the rust colour went well with the oranges and yellows. I used the wire brush to destroy and fray the bottom.

Shiny silk transfer print with stapled together pleats and hole punches.

Instead of throwing away all of my scraps I decided to staple them all together, I really liked this effect and might experiment more with this sample.

Two transfer prints using silicone, I really liked the bright baby blue colour, however this didn't dry so I can't really see myself using this in future work.

I also tried out laser cutting which I really enjoyed. I drew my own pattern and then scanned it into the computer. I had to keep changing the settings depending on the thickness of each fabric. My favourite materials to use were synthetic silks and leathers. On the silk it made the fabric so delicate and almost lacey whereas on the leather it only engraved the pattern on. I am considering using this technique for my final garments.

So as you can see, I have tried out many more strange materials and techniques which I have really enjoyed using. I have many more I would like to try out before moving on to finalising my ideas and finally creating my final garments which we only have a few more weeks to do (scary!). Let me know what you think about my project so far!

Thanks for reading,

Love from Georgia

xxx

HIGH END BEAUTY BUYS

Last week was my birthday and I received a lot of amazing makeup that I have been wanting for ages! I thought I'd try the makeup out before blogging about it so I could review it for you all and let you know what I really think about the products.

Anastasia Beverly Hills dipbrow pomade in 'soft brown', £15

I had been wanting to try out the Anastasia dipdrow pomade for absolutely ages! I have only ever tried eyebrow pencils or powders before so this creamy formula really appealed to me. It is soo easy to use and you only have to use a tiny amount to fill out your brows. What I especially love about this product is how natural it makes your eyebrows look, I really struggle with making my brows look really neat and it normally takes ages to achieve a natural but defined shape. This product has definitely made my morning routine quicker! The shade I went for was soft brown, I knew this was a good shade for my eyebrows as I had tried out a friends in the same colour and it worked out fine, I like this colour and think it is the best one for me in the range, however it is a little bit darker than I would like (as I am blonde with naturally darker eyebrows), the more you add, the darker it gets so I only use a tiny bit and blend it out which still works out great. 

Anastasia Beverly Hills contour cream kit in 'fair', £39

This was another product from Anastasia that I really wanted to try out. I want to try out contouring my face a little bit more but I only had powder contour kits which didn't really work for me. This kit is absolutely amazing. It is so blendable and the colours are spot on for my skin tone. I have only used this a couple of times because I don't want to go for such an extreme contoured look for everyday, however you can make this look really natural at the same time! I have a lot more experimenting to do with this palette but I didn't think this kit would make as much of a difference to my face shape as it did, I 100% recommend this to everyone!

Urban Decay Naked basics and Urban Decay Naked basics 2, £23 each

These two palettes have now completed my Naked palette collection and I am soo excited to use them! I have to say, I am more of a shimmery, glittery eyeshadow person but the matte shades in this palette are so wearable and are the perfect palettes to take round with me on the go. I can use the shades for my eyes, eyebrows and eyeliner if I haven't got my everyday usual products with me which is what I really liked about them. I haven't used these as much so far but I am so happy to have them in my collection.

NARS the multiple in 'copacabana', £29

I have been really into dewy, natural looking makeup at the moment and I find that this product gives my skin a really natural glow. You can use this product dry and put it straight on your face but I tend to wet my finger either with water or setting spray and pat it onto my face just above my cheek bones as this makes the colour stronger and gives it a more accurate and dewy look. I didn't think this product was as pigmented as it was before I saw it in the light; it adds a lovely shimmery glow, perfect for a natural-looking, dewy face!

NARS sheer glow foundation in 'mont blanc', £31

Makeup Forever Ultra HD foundation in '117 Y225 Marble', £29

These two foundations are hands down two of my favourite foundations already and I've only had them for just under two weeks! The NARS sheer glow foundation is so natural looking and is perfect for anyone who has dry skin. Before using this I was worried that it would be really sheer and low coverage but it has a lovely medium coverage which is easily buildable. The Makeup Forever foundation has a slightly higher coverage but is still natural looking. I prefer wearing this on nights out as it makes my skin look flawless and is perfect for taking photos!

MORPHE 35T eyeshadow palette, £18.25

I have to say, this may be my all time favourite eyeshadow palette. I could literally spend hours just staring at all of the gorgeous colours! Pink, nude and browny shades are my favourite to wear so this is literally the perfect palette for me! The eyeshadows are soo shimmery and ridiculously pigmented and they last all day. The formulas are so creamy and can be used with a wet brush as well to make the colours even bolder. There are a few matte shades as well so there is something for everyone! I want to try out so many more looks with this palette as there are so many amazing shades I haven't even tried out yet! I cannot say anything bad about it.

Let me know what you thought about all of these products!

Thankyou for reading,

Love from Georgia

xxx

CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN HAS A NUDE FOR EVERYONE

I'm sure all you fellow fashion followers are aware than Christian Louboutin has recently launched a range of nude ballet flats to suit every skin-tone.  These pointed-toe flats come in seven lovely different nude shades meaning that everyone can have the opportunity to wear nude shoes and not just people who suit the typical nudey-pink shade. I think it's great how we are finally embracing every skin tone and asking ourselves 'Exactly what colour IS nude?' to me, nude is a range of different shades, not just the ONE colour.

At £450, these shoes are not exactly cheap, however if you are looking for the perfect nude flats to suit your personal skin tone (and you can afford it!), then these are a must in your shoe collection.

I do like these shoes, however I am not the keenest on the 'classic Parisian silhouette' design and the whole pointed-toe look as I feel they can make your feet look bigger than they are and out of proportion from the rest of your body (Although I have seen pointed shoes on other people and they look great!) I would have liked to see them in a more rounded toe or maybe even more than one style so they can suit everyone's style as well as skin-tone.

Louboutin: 'The nude collection is dedicated to people who want to have great legs, to have a great silhouette' / 'If you look at the shoe, it looks good, if you don't look at the shoe, if you don't see the details, it's all about the legs; it's all about the person'.

Let me know your thoughts on these lovely nude shoes!

Thankyou for reading,

Love from Georgia

xxx

Photo credit: LOUBOUTINWORLD instagram.

KIKO COSMETICS

I have been wanting to try out Kiko cosmetics for ages now and today I finally got the chance to visit the Birmingham store today. I don't think there are many stores in the UK currently, so I has very excited to visit it. If you have not heard of this brand before, it is an Italian Professional make-up range and it is super cheap for the amazing high quality products they sell. They also have an amazing deal on at the moment where if you buy six products, you will get the three cheapest ones for free! How good is that?

All of the workers in the shop were so friendly and helpful and they all had amazing, crazy bold makeup to show off the colourful, highly pigmented products. One of my particular favourites was one girl who had bright green eyebrows and spotty eye-shadow! I loved the fact that they all embraced these brighter colours and it has made me consider using more colourful products in the future (although I did stick to my typical neutral colours today!).

 

I purchased six products today (three of them being free!) and although I haven't tested them out yet; I wanted to swatch them for you and show the amazing pigmentation and great quality.

I chose two eye-shadows as I had heard about the good quality so I wanted to try them out. The two colours that I chose (139 and 129) were quite light neutral shades and weren't the most pigmented there, however I think they are very pretty and shimmery. These are the types of colours I wear for an everyday make-up look so I am excited to use them. They were also only £2.90 each so you can't go wrong really! Next time I would like to try out some of the different eye-shadows, specifically the ones you can add water to.

I also picked up two pencil lip-glosses which is something I have surprisingly never tried before. I like the idea of a pencil lip-gloss as I think it would be more pigmented and less sticky than a normal lip-gloss whilst still giving a nice shine. The lighter nudey-pink colour caught my eye first of all as it looked like a natural shade I could use every day. The darker pink has a lot more shimmer in it but it was too pretty to leave there! These were also very cheap at only £3.90 each.

These 'long lasting eye-shadow sticks' have to be my favourite purchase of the day. The pigmentation of these is insane! They are supposed to last for eight hours so I can't wait to put them to the test! I thought the lighter gold shade would be good for a simple wash over the eye if I can't be bothered or don't have enough time to create a whole eye-shadow look and the darker taupey-brown shade would be good to blend in with the gold and make it a more interesting darker look for nights out! At £6.90 each, these were one of the more expensive products in the shop but they are soo worth it!

I will definitely be returning to the Kiko store and hope to have a look at the wet/water eye-shadows and the nail varnishes as these are said to be very good as well! Let me know what your favourite products are if you have tried any Kiko products!

Thankyou for reading,

Love from Georgia

xxx

CHANEL SPRING/SUMMER 2016 COUTURE

I am one of those people who are instantly drawn towards any type of sparkle, glitter or gems so as soon as I noticed this gorgeous collection on my twitter feed I instantly fell in love!

The shapes and structures of the garments are amazing however I wanted to specifically focus on the detailing as that is what instantly drew me to this beautiful collection. I particularly loved the 'gem-encrusted insect broaches' which I thought looked so realistic for a sparkly broach! I also loved the uniqueness of the 'intricate wood-shaving appliqué' which was almost used as a substitute for beads and sparkle- a really interesting concept.

If you go on over to the Vogue website they have posted a video 'behind the scenes' of the show, showing them sketching, sewing, styling and adding last minute touches to the pieces, I found it really interesting and you can see how much work and effort went into each garment. It was also lovely to see how the dresses moved and sparkled when worn.

I love the fact that bees and insects are incorporated into the pieces and look so realistic, it really goes well for spring/summer and I feel as if flowers and particularly insects are going to become a trend on our clothing this spring-summer, whether it be printed on clothing or added onto jewellery. However I also think the neutral and pastel theme will be popular once again this year!

  

I love the subtle hints of spring-time influenced greens, yellows and pinks throughout the neutral coloured garments. The flower shaped sequins are so pretty and delicate and really girly which is just my style!

 

I adore some of the textiles elements in the clothing, they are so interesting and unique, I would love to recreate something similar of my own.

You can see elements of wood in some of the dresses (like the one above) which is amazing and is a really interesting and different take on sparkles and embellishments.

There was even a life-sized dolls house for the finale which I absolutely loved, it's so unique and lets you see all of the amazing garments created!

I hope you enjoyed the sparkles in this collection as much as I did. Let me know what you thought about it!

Thankyou for reading.

Love from Georgia

xxx

Photo credit: www.vogue.co.uk and Google images.

YOUTUBERS WORTH WATCHING

Okay so YouTube is definitely an obsession of mine, I'm sure we all spend hours and hours watching countless videos on YouTube.  I cannot believe youtube was only founded in 2015, it seems like we have been using it forever! I have watched YouTube videos for many years now and although I am subscribed to many different YouTubers, these are my favourites at the moment. I mainly watch beauty and fashion related videos however I also love to watch family vloggers such as the Sacconejolys, the Shaytards and the Bratayleys.

Samantha Maria

Sammi is one YouTuber I have watched since day one and has always been one of my faves to watch. She posts daily vlogs on her seperate vlogging channel 'SamanthaMariaVlogs', taking us around London, to the gym, on holidays, to lunch dates, she even does vlogmas! What more would you want?  She creates a variety of videos on her original channel reviewing new products, doing simple makeup tutorials as well as giving great trend and style advice. Her blog 'A style diary by Samantha Maria' is also something I have become obsessed with, the photography is insane (im soo jelous!) and her outfit choices are so unique and inspiring. If you are into fashion and styling, I would 100% reccommend her channels and blog to you!

Freddy My Love

Freddy's videos are a new find of mine, I don't know how I never noticed her before! She does a variety of videos from beauty to fashion as well as chatty updates and the occasional vlog. You can just tell how much of a lovely, genuine person she is from her videos, I particularly loved the videos of her and her little sister Coco, their relationship is soo cute! Her instagram 'freddycousinbrown' is also something I love about her purely because it is themed with pinks and pastels and every image is bordered and edited perfectly, if you are a girly girl like me and Freddie, you need to hit those follow and subscribe buttons!

Dolly Bow Bow

Kate is another YouTuber who I discovered a long time ago, I grew up loving her girly style and loved the way she decorated her bedroom (and now house!). She has also recently started a family and includes many videos for mums and updates on her little boy Archie who is adorable! One of her more regular videos she does are primark hauls, I don't usually shop in Primark as I find the stores so annoying to search through and they don't always have the best quality materials in there, however I love these videos of Kates as she picks out some really great, tasteful and affordable pieces which is handy as the Primark website is just rubbish!

In The Frow

Victoria has such amazing style and a wardrobe to die for! My favourite videos of hers are her unboxing hauls and lookbooks where she pairs together her recently purchased clothing items. She gives great, trustworthy advice on different topics and visits a lot of blogger parties and events which are a dream! I also love how Victoria expresses her optioni on on Fashion as a Degree/ PhD as many people seem to put it down and make it seem like an easy option for less academic people and as Victoria expresses, this is so not the case!

Fleur De Force

I really love Fleur's beauty advice and her natural, very simple makeup tutorials; she tends to use more luxury products in her videos which I love if I am on the search for some new, expensive products. She also has a really great vlogging channel 'FleurDeVlog' which she posts regularly on, we really get a insight into her lifestyle and hilarious peronality which I love and as a fellow dog lover, it's also lovely to see her three adorable dogs in her vlogs.

Glitter A Little

I have to say, Chloe is definitely one of the best beauty YouTubers out there. Her makeup tutorials are so easy to follow and the looks she creates are soo unique and bold, I love them! Her reviews on recently discovered and new beauty products are so helpful and honest (she is to blame for my ridiculous wish lists and lack of money!). I would kill for her makeup collection, it's like a dream! If you need any advice or tutorials on makeup, head right on over to her channel, you won't regret it!

Let me know who your favourite YouTubers are! I'm always looking for new people to watch and subscribe to!

Thankyou for reading,

Love from Georgia 

xxx

Photo Credit: All images are from their personal instagrams.