The Biggest Mother F'n Blog Post Ever

Welcome Ladies and Gents to my Big-Fat- Fashion-Week(s)-Round-Up!

Yes, you guessed it, I am going to attempt to cover my favorite shows from ALL FOUR fashion weeks in one post. Crazy or what? It's going to be a long one, get ready and maybe grab some rations to keep you going, tea/biscuits/liquor/etc.

Basically it's just a time thing. I had absolutely none of it in the past few weeks with very long, very boring and very difficult Philosophy essays to write for college. I had intended to write a regular sized post about each individual fashion week but hey ho, didn't happen. But neither you nor I care about my academic life on this blog. As the subtitle says, this is a "Mediocre Fashion Blog", not a "Mediocre Megan's Academia Troubles Blog".

So without further ado, I give you Autumn/Winter 2012

New York

Mara Hoffman

Hoffman is a NY based designer who clearly has an awful lot of talent. Her collection this A/W was sort of Americana in style, but at the same time really soft an feminine as you can see from this floaty, black, chiffon dress. 

I love the cut-outs at the neck. It's such a wearable piece. My way of determining what a "wearable" piece is is pretty straight forward. I just ask myself, "would I look super insane (even if fabulous) if I wore this?". And the answer in this case is, I don't think so. You could definitely wear this to pretty much anything.

Although, maybe I just have a particularly high insane threshhold when it comes to clothes, who knows...

Here again we see the almost Aztec prints done in a really mature and grown up way.

I particularly like the black draped dress with the gold statement necklace. So slick.

If I could get my hands on it for University Ball season (which is upon us at the mo, and which I am desperately shopping for) I would be a very happy girl.

Also, wouldn't turn down the oversized blazer either, just saying...

(Please excuse the very obvious watermark - it goes without saying that I wasn't at NY fashion week so I had to do a bit of "borrowing" from other people's photo stashes. )

Giulietta

A newcomer to NY fashion week, this label shows big promise. 

Run by Sofia Sizzy I think this could very well be a label to watch in upcoming seasons.

Her collection was showing a lot of these puritan styles with a kind of retro 60's twist. Modest, with big belts and block colours, the collection was very clean and neat.

It's so cute! 

If this is what puritan girls get to wear then sign me up.

Even her more flamboyant pieces retained the simpleness of the rest of the collection.

She mixes billowy patterns with defined waistlines to create something youthful, yet not obnoxious, if you catch my drift here...

London

Central Saint Martin's Collection

The CSM collection is a special collection every year. It allows the fashion world a look at what the new generation from the World's best fashion school are creating.

Always a bit more "out there" then the rest of fashion week, the young designers are given a freedom which they use to their full advantage. They aren't carrying the weight of a huge corporation on their back like a lot of these collections. This is what they've created for their MA. And pretty fine creations they can be too.

It can verge into "conceptual fashion", and the term "wearable" can't be applied to an awful lot of it, but it remains a stark example of fashion as art and expression and not just fashion to sell us stuff and make money for the multi billion dollar fashion industry.

Basically, it's pretty cool and here are my top 3 of the collection.

Anne Thorjornsen

I think the mix of the geometric patterning and the very loose, unstructured jersey is really effective. 

Kind of billowy, kind of edgy, very slick.

It reminds me of origami, but with more silk and jersey...

And with the origami stuck in weird places, like people's calves and shoulders....

Helen Lawrence

On the wear-ability front, this collection is a little more tricky...

But, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.

I love the exposed stitching and weird applique design.

I love the perspex, bubble bottoms on the skirt.

And fuck the begrudgers, I'd wear the sleeveless peach one out one night. 

I'd probably get weird looks, but isn't that the CSM way? 

Yulia Kondrania

Now, I'm not going to lie. This collection is sort of scary.

I think it's mostly the hood. 

But in the same way I think it's scary, I also think it's really haunting and beautiful.

It's dramatic anyway.

But mostly I think it's fabulous.

A*** for all of this year's CSM's designers. 

Mary Katrantzou 

Nominated for this year's Fashion Fund award, it's been a good year for Katrantzou.

A show-stopping S/S12 collection and an insanely successful TopShop collab, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it could have all gone to her head.

But thankfully, Katrantzou is far more professional that that.

Instead, she just brings out another pretty sweet collection.

As an English student, I have to say that this type-writer dress is possibly one of the coolest things I've seen at fashion week this year.

But then again, I do have a biased interest..

The cuts and structure of her dresses this year along with the bold prints seem reminiscent of a CSM alumni, a Mr Lee McQueen? Am I the only one thinking that?

Her use of colour is so bold and it seems like a real natural progression from her S/S show.

The trouser suit, that floral S/S suit? Anyone else seeing a likeness?

Meadham Kirchhoff 

These two are becoming quite a theme on this blog of mine.

Yeah, in case you didn't notice, I'm a pretty big fan of this house.

But how couldn't you be?

It's so kitch and cute!

A denim waist-coat, tartan, stripes, badges, a blue fur-stole and a wooly jumper all in one outfit? Are you insane? 

No, and neither are these two.

Their work IS bold, brash and can verge on the garish, BUT they keep it controlled with their excellent tailoring.

If you look at the pieces, there isn't a seam out of place. It's almost precision perfect.

Milan

Dolce & Gabbana

Look at all that Baroque perfection?

This collection was opulent, decadent and bloody brilliant.

Based on period, Italian, baroque aristocracy the detailing in this collection was impeccable.

Just look at the detailing on that picture above. Jesus H. Christ. So intricate. Mind blowingly beautiful.

But beautiful isn't the only way to describe this collection.

It's damn right sexy.

The regalness of the baroque gold and black is balanced by splashes of leopard print, bare legs and that corset/hot-pant combination. 

Fierce as fuck.

Paris

Miu Miu

Miu Miu gave us a gender-bending, 60's mod extravaganza of a collection.

It sort of reminds me of stuff Bob Dylan would have worn back when he was hott in the mind-60's.

I've loved the gender-bending look that's been on the catwalks of A/W now for a couple of years, and this collection is no different. 

I love the touches of the Dr's Bag and those platformed loafers.

LET ME OWN THAT STRIPED SUIT, PLEEEAAASE!

That is all.

Even the tweed/pattern clash cape/mini dress is fab.

John Galliano

Oh Galliano! Welcome back 

How I'd missed you my old, wonderful friend!

In this collection, Bill Gayton finally showed why he deserved to take over from the maestro himself.

The collection was feminine, sensual and painfully beautiful. 

The colours were varied, but perfectly chosen and the material, a mix of silks and chiffon is nothing other than decadent and fluid. 

My mouth literally dropped when I watched this collection.

And then I watched it again.

And again.

Valentino

Right lads, this is it, the last collection I'm discussing.

If you read my Couture Week post I think you'll have a fair idea of how I feel about Valentino.

To cut a long story short, I REALLY like Valentino.

If I could form some sort of civil partnership with a fashion label, Valentino would be a definite fore-runner.

Wow-Wow-Wee-Wow

I'm a bit of a fan of black leather clothes at the moment.

I'm also a fan of monochrome.

So, as you can guess, this collection was very well received by myself.

It's grown up. It's delicate. It's sharp and sweet at the same time. It's lovely. 

***

Right, if you've lasted through this whole post all I can say is fair-fucks to you!

I hope you enjoyed seeing a little snippet of what I thought were the best moments of A/W FW 2012.

Now that you've (hopefully) wasted about 20 minutes reading this whole post, go and do something useful with your time!

xoxo

The Good, The BasAss and The Ugly - William Dwyer-Joyce (DJ)

 It's that time of the week again. The time when another one of my friends faces the frightening prospect of taking part in one of the most feared fashion chronicles on the internet, or so my deluded mind tells me. 

This week we see inside the fabulous fashion mind of none other than  William Dwyer-Joyce, or as his friends call him DJ. 

What lies before you are the badly taken photographs of the encounter than faced me when I dived into the depths of his (surprisingly well organised) wardrobe. So without further ado, I give you,

The Good

Looking every bit the smart guy.

Here DJ wears a dark purple blazer from Made in Berlin a really great vintage shop we found while we were there during the summer. Definitely a recommendation for anyone who is vintage inclined while in the city.

The Urban Outfitters shirt acts as the glue with this outfit I think. It links in the yellow TopMan dockers with the blazer and the whole thing is cooled down by a pair of TopMan jeans with a little turn up. 

It's really a feat to be able to pull off yellow dockers with a purple blazer and that heavily patterned shirt but I think it works. It doesn't look over done or too complicated.

Just very suave. 

Yes suave.

Jesus, these dockers are so cute.

Fair fucks to DJ, most guys would run a mile from dockers in a bright colour like yellow.

But he didn't, and they are oh so slick.

Consider this my public appeal for all guys to be a bit more adventurous with footwear. 

....

Except with Nike/Adidas etc hightops... Just burn them.

Please.

Lookin' Cas.

Simple, cool and calm.

An Urban Outfitters printed Tee, H&M denim shirt and then jeans and dockers as above.

I have no idea what the slogan "Odyssey & Oracle" means when put together with an overexposed photo of a tepee, but ah sure, fuck it. It looks cool.

The BadAss

This isn't your usual "BadAss". 

It's sort of a high end BadAss.

You'd be pretty sure this BadAss probably knows about culture, films, art and all that other stuff.

But a BadAss none the less.

Nice coats are a thing I find that a lot of guys have trouble with. Jackets are easier to get right, granted. A nice velvet or tweed is pretty self explanatory. Or even a suede bomber can just be grabbed from a rack and thrown on (although I do really like all of those three aforementioned jackets, don't get me wrong).

But this is just a really classic black crombie from Zara Man. 

It's important to get your lenghts right when you buy men's jackets. It all depends on height. If you're smaller and you go for a long jacket it'll just make you look SO much shorter. You should probably go for a car coat instead of a crombie in that case...

Also,  on a side note, Zara is a high street shop that I think is really having a bit of a moment right now. Nice cuts, very grown up.

AND it looks just a bit classier than TopShop.

But I digress...

This jumper is Urban Outfitters.

Described to me as "my Bill Crosby jumper" by DJ, it lived up to expectations.

It's a really thick knit, which you can sort of make out in the picture.

And it's just pretty cute all said.

Did I say cute? I meant BadAss.

Finally to finish the outfit off, a pair of black Dr. Martins.

Dr. Martin's for me are the perfect example of the reason why you should NEVER say you dislike something in fashion.

Between the ages of 12 and 16 my Mum begged me to buy a pair and I point blank refused. I cried "But, they're soooo ugly and butch!"

And look at me know, the proud owner and wearer of a pair of Ox-Blood Docs, and putting men's black one's in pride of place on my BadAss list.

We all make mistakes.

The Ugly

Let the LOL's begin.

They see me Rollin'

They Hatin'

Rocking a zip up Nike water-proof tracksuit top and a purple PLO from DJ's less fashion conscious days.

Also, you can't see it, but the T-Shirt says "SATISFACTION" on it in a sort of font that looks like fire. GAS.

Although I will hold my hands up and admit that at one point, I too rocked a PLO. 

I know it's hard to believe. 

I try not to think about it.

I will also admit, that after these photos were taken, a few of us went into town one night for some fun and frolics and DJ did wear this Nike zip up. Although he did not wear those jeans, which are in fact a crime against fashion.

Sexy Boy.

Let me explain why these jeans are so gas. 

Basically, they don't fit DJ and as a result, the crotch is actually down at his knees.

This is no exaggeration.

We have witnesses.

His actual knees.

Isn't he a picture?

So cheeky.

And that is it for this installment of The Good, The BadAss and The Ugly.

I would like to thank DJ being such a good sport and letting me into his wardrobe to rummage and do as much damage as I wanted. Such a pal.

Consider this a warning to the rest of you,

The Good, The BadAss and The Ugly could be coming to a wardrobe near you.

Start culling your ugly garments and start buying beautiful clothes.

You'll look sooo much cooler on the internet.

Untill Next Time,

xoxo

The Good, The BadAss and The Ugly - Alison O'Shea

Round Up, Round Up!

LocalLightPollution has a new feature called The Good, The BadAss and The Ugly.

Yes, you've heard whispers of it I'm sure, a creation so frightening that it has all of my nearest and dearest running terrified to the hills. But, there are a brave few, worthy of the tales of knighthood themselves, who have given me FULL ACCESS to their wardrobes and allowed me photograph them in an assortment of Delicious delights and horrific horrors. 

The format is pretty easy to understand. Basically I just go to my mates houses, usually drink a few cups of tea and have a cheeky cigarette and then I go to their wardobes and pick out outfits from what I see, some Good, some BadAss and one Ugly. I then make them wear whatever I pick out while I photograph it (poorly, never said I was a photographer) and post it on the internet for anyone who wants to to see. 

It is basically like a fashion Freak Show. So should be a bit of craic.

First up, is lovely Alison O'Shea (who you may or may not remember from the last photoshoot). 

The Good

Isn't she just adorable? 

The pinky-orange in the stripes on this slouch shirt work perfectly with her pale skin tone and statement hair colour. And with pins like those her white Levi cutoffs are looking pretty damn sweet. 

Definitely a good un'. 

Close up of her peach platforms. 

Like the cutie little sister of the creeper family. 

A 1950's day dress with a floral pattern like this is almost too cute for words. You can't tell from the photo but the material is a sort of terry cloth which is such a nice unusual touch for a dress like this.

The dress was actually bought in the shop I work in about a year ago, The Harlequin. Most of my clothes and pretty much all of the stuff from the last shoot was gotten there. Best vintage shop in Dublin, just sayin'. (PLUG, PLUG, PLUG)

The BadAss

Jesus, who is that BadAss?

Oh, it's Ali.

The outfit here is pretty simple, it's only three things.

1. Black Skinny Jeans

2. Zara, shaggy fur coat

3. Leopard print creepers.

Baiscally, it's like three easy steps for how to be a badass.

This is a close up of the Creepers.

She ordered them online from China for 6Euro, the shipping cost about 8 times that but whatever.

They pretty much badass-ify any outfit she wears, she wears them pretty much constantly and who can blame her. Slick.

This outfit is one that I put together with stuff I found in her wardrobe, the stuff she doesn't wear really.

It's an oversized denim sleevless dress (totally unfitted, basically a tent in denim) and a three layer studded belt from Ali's emo days. 

Put them together, throw in the key creepers and some opaque black tights and you've got a badass over here.

I just love this outfit, the collar on the dress with the sleeveless look seems almost rock-a-billy to me.

Pretty kool if I do say so myself.

The Ugly

Does this really need an explanation?

I found this little gem lurking in the bottom of a bag, under some other shit, in a wardrobe.

But what a find it was.

The pattern.

The man made fabric.

The obnoxiously large shoulder pads.

If you can believe it, it looked even worse on.

Rock that Ali, Rock that.

The Scene of the Crime

A wardrobe, the depths of which I had to plunge to find these treasures. 

Just a bit of back stage glamour for you lovely lot!

Next time on The Good, The BadAss and The Ugly it's Mr William Dwyer-Joyce.

Stay Classy lads and ladies

Until Next Time

Big Kisses and Hugs

xoxo

Couture Week.

Couture week is one which needs no introduction.
For us poor mortals, it's the week we're glued to the Vogue coverage of shows we would sell our grannies to be able to attend, let alone purchase from. I pine, I pine... For my personal song of choice to listen to while watching these shows and crying, click here. Also, swap in the word "money" for "couture" or "Valentino" or something of that nature and you'll get the full experience of my sentiments from this week.

I'm going to do a little bit of opinion on a couple of the shows which I particularly liked/loved/lusted after and a bit on this week's most talked about shows as well. Just so you know where I'm going with this and it doesn't seem like one endless ream of babble.

So, I think to start me off in a good mood for the rest of this post I go straight to Giambattista Valli.
One of the couture world's newest recruits, Valli shows here why he was so ready to play with the big boys of the fashion world in this, his second ever couture show. The designs were assured, delicate and exquisitely executed. The show kicked off with subtle pieces and evolved to his more extravagant ones towards the end.
His lace work and tailoring are examples of his skills in this area and a definite show of why he deserves to be considered in the world of Haute Couture.

The shapes tended toward the 1950's, especially in the more day-wearable pieces. Waists were cinched in and pencil shirts hugged the models. As with Dior and Versace, 1950's style underwear was visable through deliacte lace panels and skirts.

This black Gothic gown is absolutely out of this world. It's like a cross between Morticia Adams and Jane Eyre with just a hint of 1950's goddess from the cheeky glimpse we get of under the lace skirt. 

The clean separation between the white of this structured yet feminine jacket and the harshness of the croc-effect skirt is brilliant. Croc skin was also shown on the Versace Couture show (which, due to my dislike of that brand I won't be covering) and also in Henry Holland's R-T-W S/S12 collection. I'm getting a little whiff of a trend here I think?

It's the detailing on these pieces which really gets me. The black on white floral tea-dress is so sweet and seemingly demure because the top is so exquisite that you almost don't realise the skirt is completely see through, almost.

Valentino, I love you. I know you don't know me very well because I don't actually own any of your clothes, but I'm not just saying it. I love you, like seriously. I'm so smitten with this collection that I don't even know where to start. It's floral, it's sheer, it's demure, it's absolutely fucking gorgeous. Feminine as always, this is a house who know how to dress their girls. They look like the sort of clothes you's put on for five minutes on a rainy Monday morning in January and then all of a sudden you'd be in a sunny French garden walking among the wild flowers while someone handed out flower garlands...Yes, that is my full Valentino fantasy in all it's wonderfulness. And these dresses really do accentuate that fantasy to the max. 

Beaut. I think the neckline and the sleeves are my favorite parts of this dress. The material is so light that it almost seems like the model isn't wearing anything at all so I think it was important to add the flowing skirt and covered up body, it balances out the piece nicely.

I'm sure this would look HORRENDOUS on everyone who wasn't a runway model, but in this context it's a stunner.

It's the lightness of touch that Valentino as a label seem to have that adds a sort of floaty elegance to the majority of their work I think. Why? Why can't I own one of these dresses?

For the interest of a blog post that has an eventual end, I'll keep my drooling over Givenchy to a minimum. 

The textures were interesting and worked wonderfully with the classic cuts used. Also, that embellished neck brace is fierce. That's the only word for it.

An echo of the 1920's glamour with a dark feel, the collection had a serious amount of umph to it. It was classy to the end, yet always there was always an edgy feel to it. 

Dior, Oh Dior why are you doing this to me?

Don't get me wrong, the show was...lovely. It just wasn't what it had been before the demise of the maestro, Galliano.  There's no other way to say it, some of the fantasy and exuberance that he brought to the table, his vision, it just isn't there with Bill Gayton. 

It was all very Mad Men once again at the Dior show. 

Gayton said the inspriation of the collection was "Dior x-rayed", a motif which can be seen in details like exposed stitching lines and seemingly visible tailoring lines on some of the garments.

This red hounds-tooth skirt and top is probably one of my favourite pieces from the collection as a whole. But to be honest, it wouldn't look out of place on a R-T-W runway. Which for me is a big Couture no-no. These clothes are meant to be special. Which for me is the one thing these outfits are all lacking. A something special, that spark that seemed to leave with Galliano. 

Poor Dior, What is to be done with you?

That's all the coveting my poor soul can take for now. My little heart is just breaking looking at all of these...
So I must leave you for now to attend to a life of scholarly drudgery, but a new special feature is coming soon called "The Good, The Badass and The Ugly" so look out for that one.

Go and attend to your lives as usual,
xoxo

Oh, Shoot!

Ali:

Sequined black vintage dress, black Dr.Martins, Denim "Ivory Jar" jacket, black bowler.

Claire

Red "California Fleece Cape", Navy "Nylon Spandex Micro-Mesh Long Sleeve Mini-Dress", Peacock "Chiffon Full Length Skirt" (all by American Apparel), Tan Vintage Brogue Lace Up Boots  

Ali

Red-White&Blue Vintage Shirt. Turquoise Vintage Polka Dot Oversized Dickie-Bow. Black Men's Slacks by H&M.

Claire

Denim "Ivory Jar" Jacket, Vintage Levi's 501 Cutoffs, Deena&Ozzy Platforms.

Claire, as before.

Ali

Black "Kate Moss for Topshop" Fringed Romper Suit. Black and Gold Buckle Vintage Belt. Deena&Ozzy Platforms.

Ali, as before

Ali

White Vintage Jumpsuit

Claire

Silver Vintage Backless Midi-Dress

All photos were taken on location (Claire's Shed) and at Ticknock Mountain. 

Big thanks to the wonderful photographer Andrew Nuding for taking these and for making both the clothes and the girls look so nice,

Thanks to the fabulous models (who may I add were fucking freezing as I insisted on shooting in an unheated shed on January 2nd) Ali O'Shea, and Claire Nolan.

All the clothes are the stylists own, as in they all belong to me.

Spring shoot coming up soon, once I've bought enough new clothes to fill a shoot - which hopefully wont take too long.

xoxo

Shooooot

About one or two days away from the photoshoot coming online! Very exciting for all involved, although mostly TERRIFYING for me. Photographed by Andrew Nuding and staring Ali O'Shea and Claire Nolan, the photos were taken in a shed and in the Dublin mountains by night. All the clothes are stylists own (ie MINE).
Keep a lookout because they are imminent!

X
Now go live your lives or whatever...