The Blck&Wht Edit

So I'm obsessed with the black and white filter, and not just the filter itself but ALL the adjustments that come along with the apps, contrast, brightness, sharpen, grain. Todays post is a range of black and white edits and I think the reason I'm obsessed with it is down to my love for minimalism. Being that my images were taken outside, the edit gives a uniform effect as opposed to the multiple colours featuring in the background, so I prefer to focus on the outfit.

 

Heading into autumn I was confused (as per usual) on what to wear today as the sun was out, but the low temperature called for a cover up! I pick and choose my trends according to what suits my personal style and shape and I've always loved the oversized men's style coat. So I paired my favourite coat with this bra crop top creating this androgynous style which if you know me, you know I LOVE! My trousers were the base of my outfit because I just love a well fitting trouser that I can dress up and dress down depending on my mood. The high-waisted nature of my trousers completed the look as it wasn't too revealing and most important, very comfortable! My outfit was all black apart from my charcoal grey oversized coat you're not missing out on much colour, so hope you like this post..

 

 

 

 men's wear accents

 

 

 

 

 

 

thanks for reading.. x

My long Parisian weekend

What an amazing couple of weeks it's been, the run up to fashion week was crazy busy, late nights in the studio.. model fittings.. sewing and last minute alterations to pieces BUT it was all worth it. I currently intern for Charlie May www.charliemay.co.uk and I love it! her design aesthetic is similar to what I draw inspiration from and like to design. After the London show, it was the weekend after that we took off to Paris to set up the showroom for her buyers meetings. The long weekend began with a 5am Eurostar which got us to Paris about 9, this was perfect as it gave us the entire day to set up and settle into our apartment. We shared the apartment with three other lovely accessory designers and titled it he 'SHWRM' at the buzzer downstairs.

 

 

After all the furniture was moved out, the shwrm space was set up and officially open :) and this is what it looked like.. 

 

 A beautiful bouquet to brighten the room.

The view (how I miss it)

 

 

Womenswear designed by Charlie, brand CHARLIE MAY

 

Some of the runway looks from the LFW show, see more on vogue uk.

 

Bag designed by Grace and Sally, brand KITE EDEN,

beautiful clutches and cross shoulder bags. Can you believe the smaller white/navy bags are fish skin! I know right, amazing!

 

Jewellery designed by Jessie, brand JESSIE HARRIS

 I loved Jessie's look book direction, very creative!!

Had the opportunity of going to the Fashion Scout exhibition and met some amazing designers there. I was also lucky enough to meet an organisation that scouts young designers internationally so that was great to talk to one of the members behind the amazing company first hand.

 

 

 

 

Lunch with the girls, we opted for a basic lunch of salad and sandwich ingredients we purchased from the supermarket down the road from us and toasted to the shwrm with a bottle of bubbly.

 

 Our lovely kitchen/ dining area and the view I woke up to every morning...

 

'thelastsupper' Our last night out on the town. Something I picked up on about the French is that they have their dinner so late, we found ourselves going out for dinner no later than 1030 and heading out at 12 for parties/events.

 

 

Some of the best tasting food I had throughout the whole trip, (duck & baby potatoes with what I think was pepper grain sauce) it was a lot better than it looks, that sauce was beautiful! 

Another thing about the French is that their diets are an overload of carbs.. bread, pastries, wine, meat and FRIES or shall I say 'frites', but we still ate it anyway, ha.

 

 

Down the road from our apartment was this ice cream place we had been saying we'd go to since we arrived and with having no time in between meetings and events it was left till the last day, but boy was it worth the wait!

 

What was the BEST thing I tasted all weekend!

 I strongly recommend Amorino's if you're ever in Pari..

 

 

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Sightseeing..
The first time I had ever seen the Eiffel in real life, great view!

 

 

 

What a great learning experience, I could not have seen this coming at the beginning of summer when I was searching for a beneficial internship. I've met some great, inspirational and driven people, exactly who I need to be amongst during this journey! I shook hands with editors, buyers from the biggest stores, it could be me setting up a showroom soon, I just got a taste of what it could be like!

God is so good to me.

 

left to right: Jessie, Sally, Charlie & Grace

 

 

...#SHWRM! xx <3

 

 

 

Comform.

Casual me, waiting for my train in my favourites! 

FASHION WEEK FAVES

Hey, I'd love to give a valid reason as to why I've been MIA, but there's no excuse when you know people who can still fit blogging into their full time jobs! *hides*

 

Anyway, I'm here with my fashion week faves of ss14, from NY to London and some of Milan. All my favourite collections have a similar minimalist thread running through them, which is a huge reflection on my personal and design style. I love a simple colour pallet, a lot of white, pale colour ways and with the bold cuts/designs/fabrics this ss14. I've fallen in love with some new names and even more in love with my favourite designers of all time.

 

VICTORIA BECKHAM SS14

 Both these looks are great because the styling was perfectly executed, simple/clean and relaxed. These are my two favourite looks from the entire line up because they illustrate the various elements of the over all collection. The shorts above and pleated skirt featuring below touch on both sporty and masculine inspiration, I love the styling of the pieces! I haven't featured her more colourful pieces, they are available on style.com if you haven't already seen them.  



VB herself in a relaxed, simple outfit fitting for the show prep back stage as well as her end of show wave. She looked happy back stage as she decided final looks and sent each model out onto the catwalk. She is one of my favourite designers because she has a great eye for detail that cannot be 'bought', people may scrutinise her as a 'designer' because of who she was/married to.She has definitely made her mark and proven herself as an amazing and timeless designer, from her previous shows to this one. I feel as though she pushed herself by taking on more masculine silhouettes adding sporty elements, fitting for the seasons trends while maintaining a signature VB feel, producing a super high-end designer line up! 

 

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CALVIN KLEIN SS14

 I just wanted to start off by mentioning how disappointed I was with the footwear selection for this show ):

Now that I've got that off my chest, I can get into what I loved about the above looks. Technique! I love the use of folds and fabric textures against each other, a very clean look for the season.

 

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SIMONE ROCHA SS14

 (above) One of my favourite looks of all the shows I've seen!

 

Young designer Simone Rocha always delivers very feminine pieces but manages to keep every collection fresh. Although having said that, I preferred her more subtle looks for this show, which was why I chose these two as my favourite pieces because they are don't feature full/frilly skirts. I loved the styling from the punk-ish mohawk hair do, to the flower accessories.

 

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3.1 PHILIP LIM SS14

 Metallic at Philip Lim, I fell in love with this shirt because it was so unexpected, the fabric and glittery 'galaxy' texture brought a different element to the look that really intrigued me.  

 I chose this as my second favourite look because it is simple! I judge catwalk looks and designs by how 'wearable' they are, if I can see myself wearing it, it automatically becomes more appealing to me. Apart from the obvious couture/avant-garde pieces that are merely for expression and appreciation, I have to be able to see myself wearing the pieces. That's one rule I design by, my pieces have to be wearable and this is a grate example of that by Lim.

 

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MAX MARA SS14

 Dropping in abit more colour as my faves continue.. Max Mara don't shy away from bold colour and the styling on this was an over kill of colour, but in a GOOD way! A chic look for the catwalk.  

  Back to a more subtle look, this was another favourite of mine. Minimalism reigned throughout this seasons shows and I cannot complain!

 

TabokaM Lace Edition: for sale, coming soon

These two pieces will be going on sale from early/mid May. The first piece I made in lace was 'favoured' which has received such a great response so far, more that what I ever expected! From my peers to stylists to potential clients and customers, I reckon it is the simplicity of the piece that attracts the attention. The piece allows you to wear it however you choose to! No added embellishment, no slits just an elegance blank canvas :). The second piece 'desired' was the piece I made for my birthday, I knew I wanted it floor length and I knew I wanted it long sleeved with an added bit of sass! I made the piece the day before my birthday (lastmin.com much?) and I was so pleased with the outcome. I don't think anyone expected it to be what it was, my favourite piece at the moment! Both pieces are heavily influenced by my love for couture pieces <3

'Favoured' > 'Desired'

TabokaM

My brand and designs, will put more images on my 'portfolio page'