Driving Test

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately I have been caught up lately with uni interviews and driving lessons. After a very stressful and nervous morning this morning and my driving instructor telling me there is a high chance I could fail if I did not calm down, however, I surprisingly managed to pass my driving test. I do not understand how I passed. As I pulled back into the test centre I literally gave up as I had a feeling I had failed and then when the words "you passed" came out of the examiners mouth I had to ask him to repeat himself due to my state of shock. I couldn't even sign my signature on my report because I was shaking so much. So I've spent the day replying to an endless amount of 'well dones'. Now all I need is a car to go with my new pink licence.

Fantastical Photography

A few weeks ago I was flicking through "The Fashion Book" and I was stopped in my track by a photography by Sarah Moon. The 1920's style image appeared surreal as if I had just blinked and my eye had taken in only a blurred image of the photo, the photo retained a wholly enigmatic quality.

Sarah Moon, model turned photographer uses photographs to confront ordinary reality. Her imagery lies in the realms of fantasy and myth, yet her photos can never be defined as she continues to search for that elusive and unexpected moment she expresses her photos as an "echo of the world maybe."

What interested me in her work was the soft focus and dreamy appeal that leads us to a world bewitched. Her photos are unconventional. They still create a familiarity yet throughout all her images there is a strangeness present. Many of her photos resemble a reality that is shifting into twilight where the viewer is lost in a world where it is neither light nor dark.

Fashion can lie in the fantasy and what is so mezmorizing about Sarah Moon's work is that it shifts and blurs a reality giving it a cinematic quality. Her signature dark visual aesthetic despite taking away the colourful spectrum of fashion, still defines the mysterious quality of fashion- as if it is a fairytale. This is why I find her work so mysterious as she manages to capture the moments of dreams.

Iris Apfel

90 year old fashion maverick Iris Apfel or what she likes to call herself "geriatric scarlet" to me is truly a fashion icon. A fashion icon is a person that has timeless style. Apfel's idiosyncratic style has become a trademark in the fashion industry over the past five years with her statement gigantic saucer black rimmed glasses and her exuberant outfits. Despite being a style icon she believes "I can't tell people how to have style. No amount of money can buy you style its just about instinctive" and this is what makes her so inspiring. Many people are so focused on the latest trends that they forget what fashion actually is. It is about the creativity and the ideology of certain periods its not about how big your bank balance is, it is who you are and who you want to be. Society shifts towards conformity yet fashion allows you to be different and this is what Apfel dares to do with her quirky style and irreverent behavior she is the "Rare Bird" of fashion. To me she reveals a concept that we should all follow, it is the conjuring up of outfits, the mixing and matching of clothes and accessories' to reflect your own personality as this is the true essence of fashion. A label cannot depict what is fashion.

Gatsby Glamour

The New year, means new trends and this season I can't help but be captivated by Gatsby Glamour. After studying F.Scott.Fitzgerald in English last year I have become mesmerized by the American society that soared during the 1920's. Fashion reflects what is going on in the world, the social conventions, the economy and the psychology of a period. The emancipated 1920's also known as the Jazz age was a time of economic prosperity and just after the war, people became liberated and  moved away from the constraints of the the 1910s. This especially influenced the fashion industry as women moved away from the corsets of the previous decade and evolved into the 'modern' woman, a woman that is flamboyant yet comfortable. Thus the decade made way for new seductive and exciting lifestyles after the hostility of war.

So cast yourself to the roaring 20's where women craved independence and freedom with a style that was flat chested and hipless. Just imagine yourself sipping cocktails Daisy Buchanan style in the dazzling lights while the affluent leisure class dances around you.

With Baz Luhrmann currently directing an adaptation of F.Scott.Fitzgerald's classical novel Great Gatsby this season's new trend is brimming with tasseled trims, ostrich feathers, dipped hem lines and sumptuous beading everything that resembles the glittering parties that were held in Gatsby mansion. Despite the coldness and cruelty that is at the heart of the novel you can't help  but be taken by the glitz, glam and liberation  that is Gatsby Glamour.

Just a hectic January

I have been dreading the prospect of January for sometime now, with the looming threat of an English exam, two University Interviews and oh my driving test to add to the chaos. Having a cold also is not helping my mind that is in over drive. So this afternoon I decided to sit down and write my written essay for my UCA interview that is in two weeks time. This is two weeks of nail biting and sleepless nights as I ponder over what is to come on that day.

Me like many other people self doubt themselves. Yet today I am experiencing a prolonged session of self doubting, questioning myself whether I am good enough for a degree? Do I know enough to be interviewed? I suppose this is just common to fear something that your heart is set on that you begin to doubt yourself.

So as I sat down with determination in my mind today I battled my way through half of this essay feeling like I was accomplishing something I suddenly hit writers block. What was a fluid stream of thoughts in my mind became a frozen lake of despair as I crumbled and sank into the keys of my laptop. With a frazzled and tormented mind here's hoping January goes well for me (fingers crossed so tightly it hurts).