Embroidered

Embroidery is the craft of decorating a piece of fabric with needle and thread, and has been dated back to 30,000 BC. Cast ourselves to Spring 2017 and the craft is very much on trend.

From catwalks such as Alexander McQueen's Spring/Summer 17' Ready to Wear and Nguyen Cong Tri's No.10 collection, to high street stores and online sites such as River Island, Topshop and ASOS, delicately woven wild flowers are literally everywhere.

I'm really loving this trend at the moment. I actually recently brought a couple of items from an online store called missyempire.com (see the images below), because even though the weather is typically British right now, there's nothing that welcomes the spring season better than a burst of colour and handful of flowers.

Michelle White Embroidered Ruffle Bell Sleeve Top - £18.00

Iva Black Overlay Floral Embroidered Shift Dress - £24.00

I was also recently introduced to the artist James Merry, who takes vintage sweatshirts from sportswear brands such as Nike, Fila and Adidas and embroiders flowers and fruits and mushrooms, etc around the logos, which I think is super cool. He's also worked with the V&A Museum on an exhibition called 'The Embroidered Gaze' (see video here) and with Bjork on her virtual reality exhibition.

In other flower-related news, florist Herbes Fauves (@herbestfauves on Insta) has just finished setting up a flower pop-up shop in the & Other Stories Bordeaux store!

This is a trend that is definitely not wilting any time soon and I can't wait to hang my rain coat up and throw on my purchases!

If you're looking for any inspiration, have a look on my Pinterest bored dedicated to this beautiful trend → here ←

Georgia.xo

An Ap'peeling' Edit

Over the last couple of weeks I've been noticing a lot more pops of colour around on the highstreet, and I'm particularly loving this orange hue.

Orange is a colour that I think suits just about everyone. It might seem a bit overwhelming in large doses, but by pairing it with a black crop top or a pair of black cigarette trousers, for example, it can really add that pop of colour that completely makes an outfit. Even if you're not too confident on going for a larger item, such as a skirt, you could just add a couple of accessories or a pair of shoes.

With the idea of summer starting to kick in, adding colour to an outfit is almost critical. I've seen a few bits and pieces that I want to add to my wardrobe from a variety of places, whilst shopping both online and in-store. In the above picture I've selected some of my favourites for under £35, so it's a trend you can definitely afford, even on a student budget!

Georgia.xo

Blousin' Around The High Street

Left-Right-Top-Bottom

Zara Poplin Blouse with Belt - £39.99

Topshop Choker Blouse - £29

Urban Outfitters Pin Tuck Floral Black Blouse - £39

Topshop Gingham Mutton Sleeve Blouse - £29

Lipsy Wrap Front Ruffle Blouse With Cold Shoulder - £30

Bershka Strapless Poplin Blouse - £12.99

Noisy May White 3/4 Sleeve Pleated Blouse - £26

Vera Moda Off The Shoulder Blouse - £28

TREND ALERT: Over the last few weeks I've definitely seen a surge in blouses coming through on to the high street. And many versions of the blouse at that. Above, I've picked my top favourites, all under £40, which I think is great value for money and I'm sure you will too. 

When I think of a blouse, school uniforms come to mind. The whole idea gives me nightmares of how my boobs were too big for the chest but a bigger size would drown my arms and just looked so unproportioned I might as well have just worn a bin bag. But as I've seen by just walking down the high street, I no longer need to worry about my chest bursting the buttons open! 

Most of these blouses combine current trends, so you are sure to nail the perfect spring look. For example, the Topshop choker blouse meets the choker trend and the bell-sleeve trend all in one, whilst the gingham blouse, also from Topshop, obviously meets the gingham trend. Then you've also got a couple of off-the-shoulder blouses, which is always a popular concept during the spring. Blouses in general are great for this time of year, because they provide a transition between the colder months when you still need to cover up a bit and the warmer months when you want something that's not too heavy and doesn't cling to you.

What do you think about the blouse trend?

Georgia.xo

Fishing for Tights

Fishnet tights are one of those trends that you either love or hate. You think that you won't be able to pull them off but you can style them in so many ways, as I've been seeing a lot in the last couple of months. Admittedly I haven't got a pair myself, but I know I will be very very soon!

To dress up a pair of overstressed jeans
One of the girls on my course styled something similar the other day and even though all she'd done was stick on a pair of tights underneath her jeans it looked so cool. I think sometimes torn jeans can look a bit shabby and naff like your mum's baggy jeans that she's torn by accident while doing the gardening sort of thing, but adding the tights takes them to a whole new level. They give off a kind of bad girl/cool girl vibe. You know what you're doing.

Pulling your fishnets above your waistline
This is another style that can change your outfit completely. I can imagine it's quite a hard one to pull off because my tights always roll down without fail, but it just adds something if you're not keen on your bare stomach being shown. With a cropped jumper or t-shirt this looks super cool and just adds some texture to an outfit.

Fishnet socks
These obviously aren't tights but I've seen these around so much lately. I suppose these are like the above-the-waistline style but for you ankles, because if you're rolling up your trousers or wearing low-top shoes it just adds something rather than just skin... You could definitely wear these with ankle boots too or a pair of Vans.

Actually as tights
Or you could just wear them normally! They look great with a leather skirt or even dressed down with a simple t-shirt dress. Although it is getting colder now, they're a great alternative when you don't want to wear opaque tights yet.

Big holes
I think that bigger holes (no innuendos I promise) make more of a statement than your classic fishnet. I suppose it puts more emphasis on the legs and looks great if your outfit is quite simple, say just white and blacks for example. As Alexa Chung has beautifully shown us here, it makes an outfit look effortlessly cool.

Or small, classic holes
As I said before, these are a lot more classic and discreet. They give more of a classy/chic vibe than others on the market. The model in this photo is wearing quite bright colours and different textures like leather against cotton, so she didn't really need to make a big effort with her tights. It probably would have looked just as nice with opaque tights but leather against fishnet is to die for.

Georgia.xo

A Knotted Waist

 

Four weeks ago we were put in a group and given the trend 'a knotted waist'. Our task was to research the forecasts of the trend, how it's been communicated through the media and in retail, and how the consumer is wearing it.

At first I was kind of excited; I returned home and went straight to my laptop to start researching - WGSN being my first point of call - but I quickly came to the realisation that this trend wasn't simple.. AT ALL. Forecasts had been made for S/S 2014 but nothing was obvious for A/W 2016, apart from the odd nod from the catwalk. We then went to London and the only shop that really stood out was Zara and not many people were wearing our trend either. Quickly, curiosity became panic.

What we should have realised though, is that we needed to read between the lines. The trend was having a resurgence after being popular a couple of years ago, therefore it was still in the early stages. On one hand, Zara are known for their two week turnaround of dupes after designers showcase their collections on the catwalk, which explains why Zara was the only retailer where the trend was prominent. On the other hand, retailers that did have the odd style or two were only presenting the garments on the hanger, where they look droopy and unflattering, rather than being put on a mannequin and shown how they look realistically, which is why not many people were willing to try it out.

So this brought us to today. The 27th October 2016. Our first FCP formative assessment. I was so nervous, I'm not going to lie, but I really shouldn't have been. After going over our research for four weeks, we did know what we were talking about and, despite our mood boards not looking like they belonged together (constructive criticism), our presentation went really well! And hopefully we can work on our feedback and improve for future assessments.

Long story short - never give up. Just because something isn't staring you in the face at first, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There is a solution for everything, and even when you do find a solution and you think people are going to disagree, everything is also justifiable. (And sounding confident about what you're saying rather than saying "we struggled" makes it sound that little bit more truthful!)

Georgia.xo