Inspiration

Inspiration is a funny thing. Of all the things that could possibly inspire me to design, it seems my fail safe starting point is.... table lamps. No, I'm completely serious- vintage table lamps, and the evolution of their design.

My next fail safe? Chairs. I love chairs.

(And if nothing else pops into my head I look at branches, skeletal shapes, voluptuous curves, and sometimes vintage pulp illustration.)

For this reason, these two Taschen books are at the top of my wishlist:

I hope these find their way onto my slowly evolving design-desk-setup-area-thing very soon.

Mini-Internship, day 3

Today I was loaned out to the girl who is shooting the film we're working on for London Fashion Week (to promote the designer's new shoe line- which is AMAZING). For the most part I cut paper and props for the miniature set. Very. Exciting. Work. Yes. Also, my hand is killing me and I never want to see scissors again.

However it was a great day. The film girl is lovely and I'd really like to work with her again. She's an incredible artist, but very modest and sane. She works in this old warehouse with great light, where digital artists rent out a desk space and all share the building. It's ideal! I only wish my art of choice wasn't so noisy and messy. I would love to rent a space there- the atmosphere of arty people working together is enough structure to keep me in line, but without the stress of school and evil tutors.

There was a sweet dog roaming around the studio, lots of tea, yummy food, hilarious people. Watched two graphic designers play Quake against each other for 15 minutes to blow off steam. Talked shit about CSM (YEAY!) and generally had a decent day.

Ow, my hands hurt.

Tomorrow I have to work at the shoe store. I wish I didn't have to because I could be of use on the project. But I couldn't get out of work- in fact I even have to work Sunday too (which I hate doing). But after work on Sunday I'm going over to the set and helping out all evening.

I am going to be exhausted. I already am. Which reminds me. I better go to sleep.

G'nite!

Robbed!

Well, maybe. I'm not entirely sure when or how it happened. But it seems that a few days ago my debit and credit cards were removed from my wallet while I was at the cinema with some friends. I realized my debit card was gone a few hours later and rushed back, but no one had seen it. It took me a few days to notice the credit card was missing- in fact I use it so rarely I only noticed when they called to ask about suspicious activity. Seems the card was used at that very cinema a few hours after I had left.

When we were there buying tickets, perhaps I turned away for a moment with my wallet open or something...? There was almost no one in the lobby, or in the theatre.... so I have no idea how anyone could have taken the cards....

Anyhow, it's all been sorted out now. Just wanted to share the excitement of being stolen from!

Mini-Internship, day 2

Ran errands all morning, worked until 10pm. Had some wine, had some food, met the designer's girlfriend, hummed along to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs while I worked. Weighed in on a few design decisions (fun!). Learned a bit about mould making. Then I fucked up a little.... but he didn't blame me, and with the help of his brilliant girlfriend we figured out a solution.

Tomorrow I go help one of the other people working on his project, and then back to his studio to work some more.

Then I work my retail job all weekend (oh god!) And then I think I'm back on my mini-internship Monday.

I am absolutely knackered. G'nite. 

McQueen is Dead. Long Live McQueen.

I'm not one to mope about the death of famous people I didn't know, but today is a sad day for all designers: Alexander McQueen killed himself this morning.

His work has been an inspiration to me for years. His fabulous creations will be very missed by this Redhead. Rest in peace, Lee Alexander McQueen.

Mini-Internship, day 1

Today was a big day for me because I began working on a short-term project with a shoe designer. I haven't mentioned it on here yet because I wasn't sure if it was going to happen. I met him through my little independent shoe school and really admired his work, so I bugged him and hassled him and charmed him and smiled very nicely until he found a use for me.

One day into it and I'm already learning things about making shoes, even though this project has nothing to do with making shoes. I've gotten to look through his technical specs, we talked about casting strangely shaped heels (yeay!), and I even found myself able to critique the quality of craftsmanship on the sample shoes his factory sent him -sure, I couldn't do any better, but I was pleased that I have a good eye for quality even if I can't achieve it yet.

And most importantly, he left me to my own devices at several times during the day. Which to me means that he trusted me to not fuck things up, and be resourceful enough to sort things out. That speaks volumes.

I had a good day.

This Used to Be Me... (and between you and me, sometimes still is)

"There's a club if you'd like to go. You could meet somebody who really loves you. So you go and you stand on your own. And you leave on your own. And you go home, and you cry and you want to die."

Etc etc and so forth and so on.

36 Pairs, and They Each Have a Story

You know what this picture says to me? This says I need to buy more colourful shoes. It also says I have an addiction to boots and heels. It also says I need to find a way to organize them so they don't keep ending up in a pile in my closet.

With three pair at the cobbler, one on loan to my flatmate, and about ten more fetish heels back at home in SF, I have 36 pairs of boots or shoes here in the UK. And I think when I have some free time I might share with you my favourite and most interesting ones....


For now though, here are a pair I bought in San Francisco when I was there last month. Vintage white leather victorian superhero boots. I tried to wear them out the other day, but it started to snow. Due to this weather mishap these little darlings don't have a story yet, but I'm sure they will eventually...

 

Appropriate

Virgo:

 A small feat you accomplish today could evolve into a much bigger achievement down the road. You may have  felt recently that you can't tackle the big stuff because the little stuff keeps getting in the way, but actually you are covering a lot of ground just doing what you're doing now. You sometimes tend to feel as though you have to make big, sweeping changes in order to show progress. But progress is any forward movement. If you stop focusing on how many inches forward you moved, you will soon look back and realize just how far you've come.

That is more than a little important for me to remember these days. I am having lots of really panicky moments, feeling I am making no progress with my life/design and wasting what time I have left in London. I have to remind myself that things are moving along, just in tiny baby steps.

Some Old Work

I was digging through some folders on my computer this evening and came across some old art and fashion work. I thought I might share...

I'm not saying this is the cream of the crop you understand, but I thought it was interesting looking back at some  pre-Saint Martins, pre-shoemaking stuff. A lot of these were very assignment-specific, and I remember hating how restricted I felt in my design. What I'm trying to say is that my aesthetics, if even present, are hidden rather deeply in some of these. There are a mix of sketches, gesture drawings, illustrator things, and some cheesy photo shop manipulations we had to learn to do. Blah blah blah, enough disclaimers!

Anyhow please feel free to comment!