Jolie struck gold at the Golden Globes

It was a night to be remembered for some dresses and a night to forget for others at the Golden Globes award ceremony on Sunday night. Jolie’s sensational atelier Versace dress divided critics however there is no doubt that it made the tattooed actress look elegant and graceful; not unlike the Hollywood glamour of a bygone era.

It was a look that was reminiscent of Lauren Bacall at the height of her fame as a confident smouldering starlet with full red lips, a satin cream dress and scarlet red panel slashed to reveal her thigh. This accompanied with her cream peep toe heels made it a classic choice that was definitely worth an award. Jolie’s ultimate accessory of the evening was her husband, Brad Pitt who she said was ‘prettier than her’ despite him walking with the aid of a cane at the event. His outfit did not disappoint as he wore a Salvatore Ferragamo tuxedo, making them the unrivalled best-dressed couple on the red carpet. Unfortunately their sartorial success was not reflected in their career achievements as they left empty-handed.

As is typical of this annual event in the fashion calendar, it was not just Jolie who managed to sparkle and shine on the night. Charlize Theron, looked angelic in a white Dior gown that was tied at the waist in a bow, secured with a sparkling diamond cluster. The matching hairband and clutch completed this statement outfit. Other women who shone whiter than white were Kate Beckinsale in a strapless Roberto Cavalli matching it with a stunning smile and Elle McPherson in a fishtail corseted Zac Posen dress, which accentuated her incredible figure.

The Globes are known for their gowns but it is a select few who can make an outfit radiate with true beauty. The happy smiles on the women’s faces showed that no matter what, behind the seams they were having a good time.

Caroline Barnes

http://www.maggiesemple.com/blog/2012/01/17/jolie-struck-gold-golden-globes/

Access all areas at the Fashion and Textile Museum

You have got your ticket, you have attended the show and even managed to get into the designer’s after show party, but what you really want to know is what happens behind the scenes at Fashion Week?




For those images you did not get to see in your favourite magazine, take a stroll down to the Catwalk to Cover: A Front Row Seat at the Fashion and Textile Museum. Pop music, bright lights and curtains, you would be forgiven for thinking you were at a show. It captures all the atmosphere of fashion week whilst including the politics, history and celebrity. The whole experience of walking through the exhibition is designed to make you feel part of the catwalk process. The ground floor enters you into where all the action happens at the front row, then you can strut (or walk) through to the catwalk in the main section, up a level into the exclusivity of the backstage, muse over model’s style and then finish with how catwalk fashion has converted onto the street.



A poignant moment of viewing the gallery of front row images is a snap of the late Heath Ledger at a Marc Jacobs. It makes you realise how many of these photographs on the walls are immortalised in fashion history. Everywhere you look you are given opportunity to gaze at another tantalising spectacle; images appear like models as they hang with fluidity yet with uniformity in the main room. Another key quirk of the exhibition is the quotations from the fashion pack describing their personal experience of a catwalk show. It is not all glitz and glamour, as you do come away receiving an education on the very first catwalk show and how it became the most sought after event in the Fashion calendar. Did you know that Fashion Week started in America in 1940 because it was impossible to travel to Paris to watch the shows?

A Prada montage show video plays on loop as you leave. It is a whimsical treat and like any good show it ensures that the feeling of lightness after being entertained is carried with you beyond the confines of the Fashion and Textile building walls. A place where you get to see a Kate Moss hologram, a shot of a bodyguard helping a model down from the catwalk and an archive Thierry Muglar image from 1983, what are you waiting for? Lights, camera, fashion, get ready for your close up.

Caroline Barnes

http://www.maggiesemple.com/blog/2012/01/09/access-areas-fashion-textile-museum/

Focusing in on Eve Arnold: Gone But Photography Not Forgotten

Often, when you think of the most influential photographers of all time, a man’s name usually springs to mind: Mario Testino, David Bailey, Nick Knight, Cecil Beaton or Terence Donovan. It is interesting how we forget about the women who have managed to capture some of the most enduring images of all time.

Eve Arnold was some such woman. She did not fear entering a male dominated sphere. Arnold was one of the first women photojournalists to join Magnum Photography Agency in the 1950′s. It was the pictures she took of Marilyn Monroe that have made her world-renowned. However, it was almost fated that Arnold should take pictures of a woman who was known for her relationships with men. Arnold’s perspective of Monroe in the Nevada desert on the set of The Misfits was one of a sweet, innocent and apprehensive young woman dressed down in a white shirt and denim jacket. In other pictures by Arnold, Marilyn appears naturalistic, without the usual epithets of her Hollywood self. Is it possible that Arnold lifted some of Marilyn’s mask by capturing her without an adoring audience?

thejc.com

She was a strong advocate of women and capturing their relationships with each other. Her other famous photographs include ones of the Civil Rights Movement in America, the Queen and a front row filled with women at Fashion week in Paris in 1977. It is often said that a picture tells a thousand words, with Eve Arnold, a story is communicated far beyond the lens. Her photography forces you to engage in the subject’s world. There is a powerful black and white one taken by Arnold; known as Bar girl in a brothel in the red light district, Havana, Cuba, 1954, showing a girl in a thoughtful repose with her head resting on her clenched hands and an almost empty bottle of liquor beside her on the bar. It is a moment that resonates as it portrays a women’s issue that is still a hot topic today.

The female photographing pioneer, Eve Arnold, may have left us but her pictures certainly have not.

Caroline Barnes

http://www.maggiesemple.com/blog/2012/01/11/focusing-eve-arnold-photography-forgotten/

The Technicalities of Future Fashion

Lady Gaga and Katy Perry may not be the style icons that you would try to emulate for your everyday look but are their red carpet choices the iconic dresses of the future?

Fashion Week is fast approaching and here at MSL we are on the look out for the latest trends. Team MSL have noticed that the use of technology is becoming more and more prevalent in modern fashion design. It was inevitable that our everyday gratification for technology would start to spread into our wardrobes. Fashion styles have always been indicative of epoch, for example after the Second World War women drew lines on their legs as they could not afford stockings. In the Sixties hemlines became shorter to reflect how women were becoming emancipated from their traditional role in society. At the Grammy Awards in 2010, the artist, Imogen Heap wore a ‘Twitter’ dress. Her black sheer gown on the outside appeared like any other dress worn on the night, yet it had an oversized necklace feature that acted as a receptacle for her fan’s tweets. Inside her gown a router was hidden to transport the twitter feed and each time one was received a light would flash.

atlargeinc.com

It is easy to think that technical fashion is merely a concept touted out to the rich and the famous but think again. Cutecircuit are an online store based in London dedicated to wearable technological fashion. They are responsible for creating an award-winning ‘hug’ shirt which enables the wearer to send a sensory hug across the world as there are sensors inside the fabric which recreate the warmth, feel and even emotion of human contact. It promises the same ease of sending a text message to your friend. They stock the ‘K-dress’, a similar design to the one they made for Katy Perry which she wore to the MET gala. It features LED lights embedded in the silk and taffeta bringing new meaning to the idea of ‘lighting’ up the room with your presence.

Even though at the moment these dresses are still a commodity it looks as though soon your staple LBD will become an in-house entertainment centre, computer and mobile phone unit all in one.

Caroline Barnes

http://www.maggiesemple.com/blog/2012/01/19/technicalities-future-fashion/

A Dash for Fashion and Art

The fashion elite was out in force last Wednesday night for the private view of work in progress by the MA students at the Royal College of Art. Wandering around for only a few minutes you could not help but be drawn into the melee of excitement surrounding these young artists. The evening was entitled: Fashion; Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork & Jewellery; Painting; Sculpture; Textiles ensuring that there was lots on offer for a visitor to the exhibition.

It was clear from the multitude of exhibits (there were designs ranging from intricate bags to canvas boots) that you were part of the first few to witness the creative talent of the future. I was particularly drawn to a cream denim jacket with a blue fur trim hood and multi-coloured flowers emblazoned around the arm sleeves. The creator, Alex Mullins, had made this piece for a Menswear collection. I believe this item could be worn by both men and women as it appeared to be a cover up that would be extremely wearable. The jacket included a drawstring toggle feature at the bottom and encompassed the comeback of the denim jacket this season.

Royal College of Art Image

The evening focused on celebrating the talents of the artists in the most innovative of mediums. A screen played a video of the students discussing the process of how their ideas came to fruition. Another interesting use of technology was the use of three televisions stacked on top of each other that showed the three sections of a model wearing a luminous jacket. It was a delight to see how the students came up with ingenious ways to display their work in an entertaining way. At one point, two women walked through the exhibition in identical swimsuits, soaked to the skin. To catch a glimpse of the work at the Royal College of Art, the exhibition is running from 12-18 January. For this exhibition expect the wonder of the unexpected.

Caroline Barnes

http://www.maggiesemple.com/blog/2012/01/16/dash-fashion-art/

    

Trend Report: A Head For Hats

This year forget about the rabbit, pig or cat. This is the year of the hat. This can seem a daunting prospect, especially if you do not have a head for hats. However, here at team MSL we believe this trend can be mastered due to the plethora of styles on offer. There is a hat to suit every woman’s style. The New Year sees the return of the classic fashion accessory and here at MSL we believe it has the ability to transform your confidence.

Headgear is having a fashion revival. The current nostalgia for the forties, sixties and seventies glamour sees the re-emergence of the pillbox, beret and fedora. There are some who can hit the high notes with their hat; for others it is an extension of their personality and the rest a key signature style. MSL particularly loves the way Rosie Huntington - Whiteley has single- handedly put the flirt back into fedora. It is a look that has been updated for the 21^st Century; primarily seen tilted coquettishly over Twiggy’s elfin features. Rachel Bilson has adopted the perfect balancing act, wearing her beret slanted on the back of her head, updating the style of Faye Dunaway in Bonnie And Clyde. The vintage paragon, Dita Von Teese, is often seen sporting a spectacular pillbox in homage to the forties. The fashion editor Isabella Blow was never seen without an eccentric plumage attached to her head, making it a lasting tribute to milliners everywhere.

It is little wonder that the designers have taken note and are turning their attention to an iconic hat in their Spring/Summer Collections. Marc Jacobs has opted for the ultra sequin luxury turban worn for the cocktail hour, at Jil Sander the focus was on forties femininity as pillbox hats sat daintily on the models’ heads and at Burberry it was part of a carefully constructed tailored uniform.

http://www.maggiesemple.com/blog/2012/01/05/trend-report-head-hats/

No Longer Pulling The Wool Over My Eyes.

Don't get me wrong I have seriously overindulged on the Christmas jumper this season, but now it is January I feel a restyle is in order. The jumper craze developed for very good reasons which I will  detail: it keeps you warm, it is fulfills our love for nineties fashion, people like The Killing (notice how careful I was by remitting the first person, making my feelings clear about the show) and it gets us easily into the Christmas spirit. However, now the festive season is drawing to a close I feel that wearing the Christmas jumper would be like getting caught naked in the high street fifteen miles from home. You get that clawing sense of humiliation that creeps up your spine making you want to hide away forever. A love affair that, like all good ones must come to an end. I am banishing mine to the back of the wardrobe (I don't want to completely rule it out) and commencing my Christmas jumper detox plan.