Velvet Brigade: Crowdsourcing Fashion Designs
Crowd sourcing. Sometimes, especially within design, can be quite an ugly word; many people enter a competition, putting a lot of effort in, and only one can win. There’s always a danger that crowd-sourcing designs and ideas can mean you get a watered down version, or in this case, when the competition is voted for...
Review: Hed Kandi Discotheque Headphones
I was kindly sent some of these rather tasty looking new Hed Kandi Headphones recently, and I’m completely amazed by them. I’ve always loved Hed Kandi’s strong visual identity - by the amazing illustrator Jason Brooks – and so it’s great to see they’ve branched out into products. Take a look at the lovely packaging...
Guest post at The Lounge Group – The Rise of the Digital Scrapbook Culture
Last week I wrote a guest post over at The Lounge Group’s blog, on what I call the ‘Rise of the Digital Scrapbook culture’. I’ve started to notice a trend among creative/visual types that I think reflects a wider shift towards a more visual culture. When was the last time you screengrabbed something from a...
Trends: Dating Sites with a Twist
I’m not going to lie; this year I joined a couple of dating sites. After being horrified at the idea (I just didn’t feel old enough, or cat-lady enough yet), my friend finally persuaded me to give it a go. After being pleasantly surprised (there are some right fitties) I’ve also noticed that the stigma...
New Mindbubble Post: Trends for 2011
For my monthly Mindbubble post, I always try to write about current topics or issues for the female community. Well this month you can’t get much more current than the hot new trends that will storm 2011!* From F-Commerce (ASOS have just announced they’re in on the act) to fashion trends to paying with your...
Trends: ‘Collage’ T-shirts
More of a microtrend really, but I’m spotting these everywhere and am quite intrigued by it. When I say ‘collage’ I mean part of the design being sewn/appliqued on top of the design, not just printed entirely. It’s commonly bows but I’m seeing leather patches for hats etc being used as well. Lanvin for H&M...
Exciting Happenings: Contributor for The Cool Commentator
In my quest to do so many things that I kill myself (heh), I now contribute to The Cool Commentator, an ace little site that you should read frequently if you care about trends, or anything cool really. One of them there ‘cool hunting’ sites, innit. If you are distinctly uncool, then prob don’t bother....
Illustration / accessories / awesome / collaboration / coveting / designers / fashion / fashion Illustration / inspiration / luxury / notebooks / stationery / trend / trends
Trends: Stationery gets fashionable!
This is a trend that I hope doesn’t go away too soon; Fashion design collaborations with stationery manufacturers. Some of you may know I have a bit of a stationery fetish; nothing like a crisp new sketchbook or a virgin rollerball pen. Mmmm. Marc Jacobs for Moleskine: Everyone loves a moleskin – I certainly do....
A/W10 Trends: Coveting The Coatigan
I’m not a massive fan of mash-up words… Coatigan sounds a lot like ‘labradoodle’. And if I ever hear anyone say they’ve got one, I’ll smack them in the face and say, no you’ve got a Labrador/poodle cross, not a made up pretend pedigree monstrosity. And so, if someone had said ‘I’m wearing a coatigan!!!’...
Biba’s Back! And I want it all…
Biba, the iconic but short-lived brand of the 60s, has had a few re-incarnations since then, but it’s taken House of Fraser to fully revive it, gold and black branding and all. “From a mail order company in the early sixties, to a global fashion phenomenon of the early seventies, Barbara Hulanicki’s Biba was a...
Found: The Perfect Satchel Bag
Remember my epic post about hunting down all the satchel bags out there, and finding the perfect one? Well, on my recent shopping trip I went and found most of the ones I posted about. Here’s my conclusion: They’re all too damn small. Dimensions on a website are reeally hard to visualise. These are the...
