Styling Photoshoot Team 20.04.12
Confessions of a Fashionista
There's always more :-)
CJAJ09 - Sunshine and Print Summer Capsule Collection Part 1
For the lady who is ready to step out this summer in some gorgeous Ankara, the Prints and sunshine capsule is perfect. Mixing and matching color, vivid prints and some gorgeous and feminine cuts, this collection is beautiful smart and sexy and is designed to fit and flatter. And like the name suggests, the capsule is designed to take any lady through summer with pieces that you can mix and match for various looks that will have you looking beautiful and standing out at all your events this summer, be it a wedding or a picnic.
Website: www.cjaj09.com
Paper Manipulation
I started uni today. In case you’re wondering which uni I attend it’s Middlesex University – Hendon Campus! Today was the first time I actually stepped foot on this campus - a brand new campus with a whole new building dedicated solely to the Art and Design students of Middlesex. Do you want my honest opinion? lol … I was impressed. Honestly. There was something very modern, trendy and relaxing about this new building, I had a good feeling about it. However, I still had those butterflies while making my way to Hendon. You would think that I would of developed thicker skin now that I’m a returning student therefore I had done the whole making new friends, fitting in kinda thing! I did mention that I started back at a ‘brand new campus’ right?? I’m only human guys?! … Starting at a new place, with new surroundings, variations of personalities will be hard for any person. Young or Mature. I guess the best advice I can give (from my own experience) is this … ‘go into a situation prepared. Prepared for the best, Prepared for the worst. Try and be a bit relaxed – it’s not the end of the world if you don’t make ‘a bag’ of friends on your first day OR if you find yourself alone at times … Try to get into the habit of enjoying your own company. In the fashion industry I have come to understand that it is very important to be sociable and aware of ‘current affairs’ but it is extremely important to realise that your whole life does not revolved around fashion. So what if you only speak to one person at uni? You may speak to 10 outside of uni … That’s just life.
While on my long summer break I was kindly given a summer project by one of my tutors. This project was based on a book (of my choice) I had to read and re-tell visually in a sketchbook. When I first read through the brief properly – I was exciting. I felt that the project given was challenging, yet very imaginative depending on how you as an individual interprets information. How I personally went about starting this project was reading my chosen book and highlighting the key words, phrases, paragraphs that stood out to me the most. I would say that doing this technique is very important because if you’re anything like me sometimes remembering certain things is easier said than done! Highlighting, underlining and making notes as you go along are useful techniques for identifying important facts. Once you’ve done that you should now be able to piece together an idea or even better possible ideas of how you could about retelling the story. Some people may take the literal approach i.e., actually retelling the story exactly how it is in the book but through visual research, on the other hand some people may go for the more direct approach and decide to focus on one idea from the book and really explore the idea. Completely up to the individual! As long as a concept is developed – you’re all good! Yes … I said ‘Concept’. Are we on the same page?! It’s important that as a design student to know what the term concept means and how one can develop a concept. Not to throw anybody under the bus but I have been in situations where some fellow students haven’t a clue of how to develop a concept … I find that the real problem is … They don’t know what a concept is. A concept is a strong idea derived from research this idea is then explored further through more research. In other words, look at a concept as being a story. There should be a beginning, middle and end. So in terms of sketchbooks, there should always be an ‘End to every beginning’. Identifying and developing concepts is a process that takes time to grasp however with practice this will become easier.
Ok. Today was a successful day. Successful but long. Today I styled my first shoot, 60s MOD and Hippie inspired. Working with the lovely Sharmaine (model), the amazing Jo Chang (Makeup Artist) and of course the one and only Hayley Kirton (Photographer). It’s not a secret I do want to become a successful fashion designer and I am working hard towards achieving that goal. However! This will not happen overnight. My mum keeps babbling on about having ‘options’ … just in case. In layman’s terms ‘Ivy if you think mummy will be providing for you for the rest of your life – you are away with the fairies’ (in an African Accent). So I had a little think. The woman was making some sense; it is good to have experience in different areas of a specific sector. It makes you more versatile, knowledgeable but most importantly EMPLOYABLE. So really that’s how this whole styling project came about! The shoot started off with me and the model meeting inside Stratford Shopping Mall at half past nine in the morning (what can I say? I’m an early bird) together we went into Peacocks first where I picked a lovely dress which definitely fit the theme of 60’s MOD. It was a simple red and black A line cut dress. After purchasing the goods from Peacocks we then went on to New Look, the same process repeated but this time I picked a dress which in my opinion represented 60’s hippie. I did find that second time round was a bit more challenging mainly because the clothes in New Look were more 70’s. Nevertheless, I did manage to find something. After picking looks, Sharmaine and I made our way to Embankment to meet Hayley and Jo. We (Hayley and I) chose Embankment for the location because of the amount of open space on side roads that were available plus we both felt that the modern surroundings contrasted well with the themed outfits. The makeup was done outside at a little café in Victoria Embankment Park, a small round plastic table with plastic chairs for us to all sit down and get to business. While Jo was doing Sharmaine’s makeup Hayley and I were discussing which main poses we would like Sharmaine to try out and for which look. PLEASE NOTE: Hayley came prepared. She had printed off the model poses that I had sent her and the poses that she had found. She had also made a note of the two different outfits and makeup looks. I really can’t stress anymore the importance of planning and going into a situation PREPARED. When you are working with people who have given up their time for a project which is not paid it is extremely vital that you DO NOT DISSAPOINT. Always coming prepared is a good sign of professionalism and passion. Two characteristics you need in order to move forward in this industry. We had come up with a strategy. The look that had the more poses to be done would be the last look of the day there for the first look which had the least poses was the look we started with. The hippie look was up first. I laid all the clothes and accessories out for the first look and began to make up the look, adding things, taking things away making a ‘Maybe’ pile and a ‘Hell No’ pile … lol iJoke! But I did make piles. I was just seeing what worked and what didn’t work, I also made sure to look at sharmaine and include her and her look in the decision making. An idea can be good in your mind but if it doesn’t translate with the how the model look’s, hair and makeup wise the overall look will not work. At one point Jo made a suggestion in regards to the colour for the eye shadow, she thought that it would be good to pick one of the bold colours from the hippie dress to use for Sharmaine’s eye shadow. I of course agreed with the idea because it did make sense and it did look once she was done. Allow a good flow of communication. Two heads are better than one! Makeup Done. Hair Done. Now … It was time for Sharmaine to put on her outfit. I just love it when a look comes together. She looked stunning. The first look was complete and we could now make our way to the first location to start shooting. Always the best part of the day! We repeated this same process for the second look, however while makeup was being done (second time round) I had to disappear for 40 minutes to meet a fellow designer/friend to pick up a couple of her outfits for another styling shoot I had planned the following week. Before I continue, I just want to state that always try to avoid making arrangements during a time when you will be working/assisting on a shoot. If it can’t be avoided at least make sure that you tell the people you will be working with in advance about your departure. I did come back to the shoot 45 minutes later, I was a bit annoyed thinking that I would have missed so much of … well .. everything! I didn’t miss that much (Thank Zeus!) I came just in time for the shooting which was located this time nearer Blackfriars. The makeup for the second look was just ‘phenomenal’ it was like a smokey, musky, bold, striking EYE! I just don’t know how she did it?! Absolutely Stunning. The makeup really made the overall look. Sharmaine looked like a model from the 60s. We were all very pleased with the outcome of the images and the success of the day. Hayley definitely worked her magic. She’s really good at capturing the essence of the shoot, when on location she works with the natural day light using a portable reflector Hint: From my experience working with her I have found that the reflector really helps to give the model a natural glow and gets rid of any unwanted shadow on the side of the model that does not have sun light. Every photographer is different and will have their own way of working. It’s important that each new photographer you work with or encounter – you examine how they work and find out why if you can. I know curiosity killed the cat but in this case we’re humans not felines. After the shoot literally a day later we received the images. I’m referring to the final edited/retouched images, 17 in total 4 of which included the makeup shots. I did ask Hayley how she could of got them done so quickly … she replied by telling me that the effortless makeup, Sharmaine’s good skin and the great lighting all contributed to 17 best images that didn’t needed only minimal retouching. I know what you’re probably thinking … ‘How can the images look good if she only spent a day on them?’ Well. In my experience and from listening to various opinions, if a photographer takes forever to retouch/edit a group of images it kinda suggests that the model’s skin wasn’t that good, nor were her poses, the lighting was bad and basically nothing was going right. To each their own’ I say. It all boils to the photographer and how skilled he/she is.
Passion alone is not enough you need to have a strong work ethic, be committed and dedicated to your craft.
Not to brag but I have done quite a few photo shoots, all very similar but individually different from the last. My main reason for doing so many photo shoots is because I enjoy them. Plain and Simple! A photo shoot is a way of conveying a message through imagery. When you design and produce fashion pieces it’s so important to bring those pieces to life and promote your style and vision. A good piece of advice someone once said to me … ‘Nothings ever out of reach …’ As long as you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, able to plan, communicate and delegate – you can achieve almost anything. I didn’t realise how true this actually was until a couple of days ago … 19.08.11 – I attended a fashion photo shoot in Stoke Newington around 11:00am, I was working with an experience fashion photographer and a trained makeup artist from AOFM. The model I worked with for this shoot was teenage girl named Elena. She had contacted me a month in advance about wanting to work with me on any photo shoots I may have had booked at the time. At first when she contacted me I was a bit sceptical because of her age but with more talking I was convinced that even though she was young she was definitely motivated and had a strong passion for modelling. So I agreed. Now for the twist (lol) … She didn’t live in London – in fact she didn’t even live in the UK. She was emailing me from Malta. Ah … the joys of having a Model Mayhem account! I have to admit I was slyly flattered that she would go out of her way to message me knowing full well she wasn’t even in the same country as me. I kinda strict but fair policy – I only consider working with models who are London based or live near London (have easy access get to and from the city). Of course I informed Elena of my policy and let her know that ‘although I appreciate you taking the time to contact me, unfortunately I only work with models that live in London/UK’. She took It surprisingly well. Mainly because she had this to say to me ‘Thank you Ivy. I know-I’ve read your policy but I will be coming to London on Holiday in August with my parents so maybe there could still be a chance for us to work together on a photo shoot?’ Hmm … does this sound legit to you? To me – it didn’t at first but Elena then let me know that she wouldn’t be able to start confirming things without her parents speaking with me first … So that kinda swayed me :) After speaking with her mom on many occasions I knew that Elena was serious and so were her parents. They were coming to London for a one week holiday to sight see and have a relaxing vacation. I decided to go ahead with the collaboration (of course after I had told my parents about it!). From then onwards it was a period of long emails, talking through Skype and Facebook chat, making decisions together – if her mom didn’t like a specific photographer’s work or overall attitude to his/her craft … it would be a no go. However progress was made fairly quickly. I already had a few finished garments that I needed photographed for my portfolio so once I had found a definite model to wear the clothes – sourcing photographers; makeup artists etc. was the fun part :). A little trouble did occur with the first makeup artist. (PERSONAL HINT – It’s so important to work with individuals who are able to commute to and from the shoot location. When working with people who will be coming from all four corners of the earth just makes life harder for yourself) None the less I did manage to find a makeup artist a week before the shoot – Personal Reminder to Myself - It will always and forever never be a good look to leave things to the last minute. Her name was Kiran. She was lovely. Professional and easy going. I do hope I work with her again – It’s always good to work with people more than once especially if you found that the way they worked was really good and brought about a good vibe to the atmosphere. The photographer, I had been in contact with him also through email way before the shoot so from that I had an idea of his personality and work ethic. He had a licensed studio and website – on his website gave more information about him and his photography. I regularly checked this. He also had a facebook account which I added and found some of his mutual friends to be my mutual friends.
August 15th 2011 – To make a loss or to NOT make a loss …
It’s so important to mess up. Because if you don’t mess up how will you ever learn to get it right? How will you ever be taught the right way to do it? Get my drift? Not too long ago I set up an account on etsy.com selling some of my garments from my Spring/Summer 2011 RTW collection; all pieces were designed and produced by yours truly! Etsy.com is a market place for the ‘creative’. On this site young and mature entrepreneurs such as myself can sell one off/vintage goods at affordable prices for the general public. 100 or what? … I know you may be thinking – too good to be true! But honestly trust me … the site is 100% percent legit. So here I am uploading and listing the details of the garments up for sale, providing all the information needed, I even spent time doing the ‘Optional’ bits… Me?! lol Back to the matter at hand … Once I’ve gone through everything on the site thoroughly I get to the ‘Pricing’ section. The one time where I should be smart, stick to my guns and do things the “proper way” … keep it professional and all that… I go and fuck it up!! … I bet you’re wondering ‘How and Why would you fuck that part up?’ … well I guess in my defence it was more than money. Making a sale meant more to me than just earning a quick buck’ … it was satisfaction, achievement … Recognition. When you’re passionate about something some things just become obsolete at times especially in comparison to something you have specially created from scratch. I priced one of the items that were for sale for $7 which in British pounds was about £4.00 plus postage and packaging which I made $2 (£1.20) so all in all it wasn’t a quick buck’ I made it was a quick loss! lol … You gotta have a sense of humour when you’re in these situations. I remember my dad was the first person I told! I was so excited – actually couldn’t believe it?! It still shocks me till today … someone from a different part of the world took a fancy to one of my creations … Wow. The feeling was just ‘One of those Moments’. Irreplaceable. However that was short lived. My dad wasn’t too far away to remind me that I had made a ‘GREAT LOSS’ and that if I wasn’t smart enough next time I would continue making a loss and never a profit. So I took on board what my dad was saying to me because let’s face it … he was speaking the truth. I should have understood the value of the different currencies; I could have done this before starting the list the garments however I would have done it if it had sprung to mind at the time … Should’ve, Could’ve, Would’ve! … Are no help once the deed is done. Now I’ve learnt from this situation which was a valuable learning curve – I have started to research more how other individuals on etsy.com sell and promote their products. It’s actually very useful because I have now been able to witness how things are priced and why they are priced (at a certain price). Soon after posting the first product today I have been on and off etys.com nonstop lol … I need to make sure that with the rest of my garments up for sale I make some type of profit otherwise being out of pocket will become my day job! … Hmm I bet if my mum was to read that last sentence she’ll have a lot to say! PLANNING … is always key! Know in advance what you are to do, if in doubt ASK! There’s no shame in seeking help as long as you do it with your head held up high and your dignity intact! Yes I made a loss but also gained something much more valuable – a customer. (pause) It feels real good to say that, I’m telling you!
