Welcome to rachelsays... The blog of Rachel Lewis, containing my thoughts and musings on illustration, design, fashion, music, cakey-bakey goodness, culture and things that I generally find cool. There's also a good chance my own illustration work will pop up on here.
All work on this blog is copyright to me unless I state that it isn't. Obviously. Don't do stealing, kids.
So come on in, have a look around, and leave a comment if you like what you see.
Never underestimate the power of Twitter. I would never have got involved with this if I hadn't seen the RT on my feed. Leith Festival (just outside of Edinburgh) needed a poster doing for their fundraiser, which sounds like it'll be great - Leith's Found Fashions:
'The Evening will showcase outfits designed by local designers and outfits created in association with local charity shops!
There will be Live music from Leith's Very own Obehi: www.obehimusic.com
www.facebook.com/obehionline
There will also be an opportunity for you to purchase the fashions on show and fashions that were not displayed on the catwalk!'
So I sent them a few rough drafts and they chose mine for the final designs! Nice.
I wanted to give the designs a real vintage feel, so used found imagery coupled with classic fonts (Gill Sans and Futura to name a few) and am really happy with the outcome. The first is a much more fun, kitsch tongue in cheek look & feel, with a cute curly typeface called 'Kushtie' which I love. The second is an old Vogue Pattern Design amended to include all the information and to show off the idea of Vintage Fashion.
I really wanted to go see Pick Me Up so it was great they held Glug there - killing two birds with one stone so to speak. Like I said, I was tres tired and really stressed from work so was really looking forward to a fun evening and lots of wine. That turned into 1 small cup of wine as it was so expensive! £4 for a small glass of what tasted like very cheap white wine wasn't fun :( What I really wanted was a Bulmers but they told me they had sold out - which was strange as I got there early so they must have only had a very small number. Anyway. No cider for Rachel.
I went on my own this time as I wanted to try and actually network - but actually bumped into Cynthia off my Immersion course while we were waiting to be let in, and I'm so glad I did - it wasn't really an environment conducive to real networking! So we spent the evening together, chatting about our work and what we were seeing etc. We also saw 4 or 5 others off our course too so that was really nice :)
Everyone got handed a free Mr Bingo print at entry so that was ace. Here's mine on my wall of my 'studio' (...desk in loft...)
Lovely.
Because of last time's issues with the talks (just too many people; couldn't hear/see very well), they decided to do a raffle type thing this time - there were 3 talks, 90 people in each, and you can only see one of them. To get in it was a free ticket thing, first come first served. We got there early so got a ticket easy, although it wasn't very well organised - just girls standing around handing out the tickets - they very easily got mobbed. Would have been better if they were behind a desk, and you could queue for the respective talk number. We went for talk no.2, which had Chrissie Macdonald, Emily Forgot and Sam Arthur from Nobrow. I really like Chrissie Macdonald's work for Orange (have talked about it before) and the other two seemed interesting. We met Sam before the talks actually, he was really nice and was telling us a bit about how Nobrow works and how it started, we also got chatting about Wolverhampton as he went to school there! He hated it lol. I still have fond memories of it obviously, from going to Uni there, but we agreed it was definitely a place you had to escape from!
We mooched around for a while, got some overpriced drinks and checked out all the art. There was a lot of it! Some really big names too, like Hellovon, (who makes me sick because he is so good) Hvass & Hannibal, James Joyce, Mr Bingo, Peepshow, and Rob Ryan. There was also Erin Petson, who I'd never heard of, but is my new favourite love:
Her work is amazing and seeing it on screen really doesn't do it justice. It's totally mixed media and experimental with a really strong colour palette and definite roots in fashion. Close up it's so delicate yet strong and we both agreed it was our favourite - a lot of the other work there was amazing too but very digital-heavy. Don't get me wrong, I love using the computer in my own work but I've always favoured the handmade quality and such a lot of illustration at the moment is too digital, in my opinion. It was so refreshing to see Erin's work.
When it was time for the talks we battled our way through (it was very busy... again... and hot! So hot) back to the entrance, and after asking around figured out the talks were right outside of the building and then back in again. I've heard some people say they couldn't find the talks at all, which is bad... but it wasnt that hard, bit tricky but not impossible. I think it's just the nature of Somerset House that it's very twisty and lots of little rooms that it's not the easiest to navigate.
The actual talk was great though, we got in in time to get a seat and it quickly filled up. The basis was for each speaker to briefly talk about 5 things/images which inspire them and their work. It was really nice to hear this from other creatives and the variety of things which inspire them and why. I loved hearing inside Emily Forgot's random mind, she definitely made us giggle the most. Sam's confession of his love of Ladybird books was great too.
After that we decided to check out all the big rooms around the exhibition where the live stuff was happening - Print Club London doing live screenprinting, Rob Ryan's fully functioning studio, Landfill Editions with their crazy Risograph Printer (which we'd never heard of and were fascinated by), etc. Rob Ryan was in his studio but we couldn't think of anything to say to him except 'you iz well good innit' so we decided not to. Great studio though, and it solved the mystery I always wondered about how prolific he is when his creations must take hours - he has minions! Many minions! Who sit there scalpoling his creations and screenprinting others etc etc. Ah. When you are successful, you can afford minions I suppose. Here's a video from Creative Review of Rob Ryan in his pop-up studio:
We ended up leaving at about 9.15 I think - I had to drag myself back to Euston and then home to Leighton so couldn't stay late with work the next day. All in all it was a really inspirational and fun evening, so thanks Glug. Just wasn't really a networking event! If I had have gone on my own, I fear I would have just walked roun don my own wthout really talking to anybody - I didn't see anybody else on their own, everybody seemed to be with friends again. Which is fine. I just think that the exhibition was too interesting and immersive to really have to make the effort to talk to new people. Especially with the lack of free flowing cheap alcohol.
On April 17th I made my way down to Carnaby St on a lovely sunny saturday for Sketchbook Magazine's Pop Up Shop. After fighting my way through the crowds and tourists around Oxford Circus (and holding my bag like a baby after it was broken by the tube barriers shutting on it!! Not happy, it literally opened for less than 2 seconds) I got to the shop on Newburgh street for a 12pm Fashion Illustration Workshop with a lovely girl called Gabriella, who is currently on her MA and was teaching the workshop.
I had a little mooch round the shop before going down to the workshop - it's a great little space. I was going to take photos but after the great bag debacle I really couldn't be arsed to dig around in it, risking serious overspill, to find my tiny camera (one of the reasons why it ripped was possibly because it was full of heavy magazines and everything I lug around with me all day) so... there. Plenty of other bloggers have taken photos though, like Diamond Canopy's Winnie, so don't feel too hard done by.
Images from Sketchbook Mag's blog, copyright to Annie Driscoll.
Oh, and free Vitamin Water though, that was nice :)
I love fashion illustration and it's one of those things that I always tried to do a bit of at uni, and love it (especially people like David Downton, so amazing) but was never any good. Drawing people has always been my weakness - I loved life drawing at uni but our course never offered enough of it, and the variety of model was very poor. I tend to draw people with strange proportions, which is fine, but not great for representing clothes.
The workshop was really nice, only about 8 of us I think, and we were all pretty much beginners when it came to it so it was good. Gabriella started right at the beginning, with proportions and how to get it all right.
I knew how it normally works, with splitting the body into sections, etc, but I had no idea that fashion illustration proportions were different to normal ones. It makes obvious sense because all fashion illustrations have really long legs, but I never gave it a thought before. You basically move the navel up higher than you normally would, and then split it up as you would from there. Aha.
The above one is an attempt at giving the model some kind of pose, with hips onto one side. Harder than it looks. A lot of my sketches came out looking like aliens.
After we had our poses though, we could then use our magazines to cut pieces out and collage over the top. I love collage, and do a lot of it, so I found this much much easier than the drawing part.
It's definitely given me lots of ideas with regards to how I could use this in my work in the future, and I really want to keep practising at it and get a lot better at the proportions. I also reeeaally need to go life drawing again, I miss it. It's just time though.. I don't get much time to do any illustration these days with my job now. Which upsets me. Sigh.
Edit: July 2010: I've been wearing these for about 4 months now and they've actually ruined my feet. Ignore what I've said in the initial review; they are so painful. I don't know whether it's the hot weather or what but the inside backs of the heels in the trainers have completely disintegrated and given me painful blisters - the backs of my feet are in tatters. I've taken to using bandages on the inside as a temporary fix and wearing plasters every day but COME ON - I paid £80 for these and they last 4 months before they shred my feet?? Reebok, sort it out. I am a standard size 5 and I always buy that size in every type of shoe I buy - yet these have either a) shrunk or are sized completely wrong, they are incredibly tight and I get pins and needles across the tops of my feet. They felt fine for the first few months after the initial 'wearing im' period but now they are so painful.
I took to recommending these to everyone I know but now I don't. The opposite in fact. Oh dear Reebok. Sort this out now.
Original post: Now that I work in London but don't yet live there, it's a 45 minute walk every morning from my house to Leighton Buzzard station. At 6.45. It's pretty terrible having to walk that much at that time in the morning, but I was wearing pumps/kitten heels/etc as well; obviously whatever I was going to wear during the day. It wasn't long before I'd destroyed my feet, and a few heels too. I didn't like the thought of wearing trainers (I never do) but figured it would be so much better for me: I'd take my shoes in my bag and change on the train.
I'd heard of Reebok Easytone and even though I was a bit skeptical, I thought if I was buying trainers I may as well pay a bit more for some that are supposed to help tone even more. I've seen Skechers Shape Ups and MBTs all over the place and I hate them: they're just so ugly, no matter how good they're supposed to be for you, they just look like orthopaedic shoes! So I was glad that Easytone look just like normal trainers.
There's a few different styles, in the end I went with the Curve version, which you can see above. I couldn't bring myself to buy white (and wear) white trainers, so had to go for the black ones, at least they sort of go with my clothes a bit. Althought tbh, it's not really about fashion at that time in the morning.
I wanted these ones but I couldn't find them anywhere when I went shopping.
So I ended up paying £80 for my pair. Which literally hurt me: I never thought I'd spend that much on a pair of trainers. So what do I think?
I've had them about a month now, I wanted to wear them in a bit before I reviewed them.
First off, they initially felt extremely comfortable. When I tried them on in the shop they felt great, and really springy and nice. I didn't feel unstable, even though the blurb says:
"The EasyTone Curve, built on Reebok’s patented muscle-toning sole technology, creates a slight instability, much like walking on sand. They encourage toning through increased muscle activation in three key areas of the leg: the gluteus maximus, hamstrings and calves. Up to 28%, in fact. Like we said, sharp curves ahead.
EasyTone balance pod technology encourages up to 11% more toning in the hamstrings and calves, and up to 28% in the glutes
Synthetic/mesh upper for comfort, support and breathability
Dual density medial post provides superior stability, while adjustable heel strap reduces heel slippage
SmoothFit design ensures minimal rub and ultimate comfort"
They definitely don't make you feel wobbly; just a lot harder to walk in. But not in an uncomfortable way, it is just like walking on sand. You need to put a lot more effort than you normally do to walk at the speed you want, which is where I assume the toning comes in.
Comfort:
At first, like I said, they were really comfortable. The first time I wore them, taking the dog for a short 25 minute walk, I came back and my heels had been rubbed raw and were bleeding. Very painful. I perhaps should have worn pre-emptive plasters, but still, I hadn't imagined they would rub like that. I had to wear plasters for 3 weeks after that to stop the pain, and thick pairs of socks for the first week or so. Not great.
I also realised, after a few days, that they were extremely tight over the bridge of my feet. I have wide feet and a high instep so have trouble with some shoes because of that, but I've never had trainers that have been so narrow. It got to the point that I was desperate to take them off on the train because I was having pins and needles. Luckily, things seem to have stretched a bit and they're not so tight anymore; I loosened the laces a lot as well which helped a bit. They don't make my feet feel numb anymore but they're still slightly tight. Perhaps Reebok should look into this and realise that quite a lot of people have wide feet/high insteps and trainers should accommodate that.
Toning:
Despite them not being very comfortable for the first few weeks, I still wore them everyday because 1) I'd spent a considerable amount of money on them and 2) I could actually feel some effect, which I was surprised about. Even after the first week, my legs were aching more than I usually felt when wearing normal shoes to work.
After a month of using them, my calf muscles are definitely more toned. Not too sure about my thighs but that might come later. My mum commented that my hips looked slimmer so that might be an effect. But they definitely worked my ankle and calf muscles more, and I'm still feeling it when I walk to work, even on friday, on a very fast pace because I was late, I could feel my ankle muscles really working and they ached the next day. Which is a good thing of course.
Overall, they're alright. If they weren't so tight and caused rubbing at the beginning I would have hailed them as pretty damn good, as they do seem to be toning much more than normal walking. The fact that I'd already walked for a month every day to the station in normal shoes, vs using these, and I could tell there was a marked difference.
The other thing I have found is that I am able to walk faster in them, too. The springy base of the shoes is much better at propelling me forward and I can get to the station in 35 minutes now, if I walk really fast. Which means 10 extra minutes in bed/eating breakfast. I like that.
I haven't yet tried them out running; I'm not entirely sure if you're supposed to but I don't see why not. Apparently Reebok are bringing out Runtone and Traintone later.. for running and gym respectively. Slightly skeptical of that; possible money-making scheme saying you need three different trainers for three different types of exercise. I don't do a great deal of running and never go to the gym so I have no use for either. I'll stick with my easytones I think.
My verdict: If you do a lot of walking, and have the spare cash (which I really didn't buy hey ho), then you might as well. If you have wide feet, I wouldn't recommend it. It's taken a month of walking in them every day to wear them down to be comfortable and not tight or rub.
I've stumbled on a bit of a gem here. Can't believe I'd never heard of Missguided before but they're clothes are my new favourite love. Think a mix of Motel and New Look, with a very tasty pricetag. The current collection is growing all the time, and they've got some great dresses and some really fashion-forward stuff. Par example:
Black lace, ruffles and added beaded detailing; you can't really go wrong. It comes in cream and pink as well I think, but the black kind of gives it that gothic twist that I love. Could be a winner.
I've got a similar top to this, but without the lace. Panelling and cutaways are big news but I think you need and amazing stomach for this one. Perhaps not. I love the monochrome slashes though, it's a good little find.
Lace and floral are really great friends. They love each other. My current wardrobe is pretty much lace and floral-based. And so this dress kinda ticks both boxes. And it's that lovely cream colour. I don't even have a floral bodycon dress so it's fiiiiine, I definitely need this. Yup.
Now this is amazing. I'm definitely buying this. The colour is great, perfect for the nude/pastel trend around right now, and the structured hem line is so Lady Gaga. But less mental. I've got an inkling it's going to be quite flattering on my generous thighs, with all the detailing taking away from any unsightly bumps etc. We will have to see! It's sold out in a size 12... size 10 might be too small. Eek.
This is a little bit different, and not for everyone, but I love the print. Never been massively keen on velvet but this could be quite good. The bubble hem has me a bit worried though, they never look that good on me. I'd have to try it first. It's a great print though, they've only got a 14 in stock right now.
Can you actually believe it?! My search is over. Ages ago, I posted that I was coveting lace cycling shorts. This was before the high street had jumped on the trend yet so as usual, I was hanging around waiting for them to produce something affordable. And here we are! Tres happy. And can you believe, only £6. I am so there.
I really want this, it's the cutest ever. Crop jumpers are great, and this would look really cool with high waisted denim shorts I think. I just love the print! Aw. It's sold out though :(
The nautical stuff they've got is great too. I really like this dress.
With all this, I'm trying to find the perfect going out dress; it's a friends birthday this friday and I haven't had a proper night out in so long, my stock of dresses now all look very last year. Which is because they are. Haven't bought a new dress since December! I just need to figure out which sizes I should buy (I hate shopping online, I range from an 8 to a 14 on the high street, does my head in!) and then inevitably there will be some returns. I've gone for the structured peach dress and the Deepa Dress as well, in case the peach one is too small at a 10. I hope it's not :(
So go and check out Missguided anyway, and I'll post pics if the dresses look good.
I saw this Hush Puppies Shoeperstar competition when it came out and thought it was a great idea. I didn't take part because... well I can't design shoes. I wasn't entirely sure what the outcome would be, because while Hush Puppies are amazingly comfortable (I bought some while I worked at Schuh, in a plum kind of colour, so nice to walk around in heels that don't kill you) they're not exactly Irregular Choice in the looks department. That's fine for most who need them for work and who can't wear crazy shoes, but I likes crazy shoes. That's why when I saw the winner, I was most excited:
So cute! And so summery. They also come in black too:
Which I like, but not as much as the purple. I like the white heel and the floral strap, and I'm rocking a lot of purple right now thanks to my splurge at H! by Henry Holland (Henry likes purple, it seems...) so they would go with so many outfits. And the best part? They are guaranteed to be comfortable, cos Hush Puppies rock like that.
The only downside is that they are £65... oh if only I still had my Schuh discount! I will have to save up for a summer treat.
"Laura is 36, a mum to one year old Bonita and currently teaches textiles part time in Turves Green Girls School, Northfield. When not teaching she spends the rest of her time painting and does portraits, designing women’s clothing and accessories as well as working with local artists in the community to coordinate and implement a programme of arts events for disadvantaged youths.
Laura’s shoe design was inspired by the need for a funky, feminine yet practical shoe that could take a working mum from school run to office to evening drinks – all in relevant comfort. The shoe itself is an all-season style and has vintage influences with a modern twist."
I heard about Topshop Makeup a while back but it's getting quite a bit of press now, and some images have been released too. Initially I wasn't majorly excited but now I'm getting a lot more intrigued: firstly the packaging is quite cute:
Monochrome stripes and spots, quite nice. Now I'm assuming it's all cruelty-free, it would be disastrous not to be. I'm hoping the packaging is minimal like this; and that none of it comes in additional cardboard boxes: that really annoys me. Like when nail varnishes come in cardboard tubes. It's made of glass, it's ok, it doesn't need extra cardboard. Foundations and moisturisers do this too: it bugs the hell out of me. I bough L'oreal's new youth code moisturiser (which is great btw, really like it) but it's in a glass tub, and then with a cardboard box. So not needed.
The main thing that got my attention is that the makeup is seasonal; the first being aimed at the festival season. So lots of bright summery colours and crazy glitters to go raving in. Personally, when I go to festivals, I wear nowt but eyeliner. You can't really be doing with anything more than that when all you have to wash yourself for 4 days are babywipes. 4 days of built up mascara and foundation is pretty... gross. But then there are those who do the hotel/VIP thing and who treat festivals like a fashion show, and would go crazy over this stuff, and there are those who like me, wear the same denim shorts all weekend. What I'm more interested in is that this stuff will be great for colourful nights out. I love to experiment with eye makeup, at uni I always had people saying 'you're that girl with the mental eyeshadow/eyelashes' (usually while spilling drinks on me):
And so on. These were all taken on nights out/varying stages of drunkenness so not exactly model shots. Ha. But anyway, I like to do crazy eye stuff, and hopefully this topshop makeup will be good for that, as I can't always afford to buy Illamasqua and Barry M. As the images I'm about to scan from this week's Grazia will show, they've thought about this range in terms of what crazy looks you can pull off. But the main thing I'm excited for is the nailvarnishes, in particular this one:
This shade is called The Big Easy, £5. It hasn't scanned brilliantly but I LOVE it. I'm suddenly reliving my 14 year old obsession with nail varnish these days and this is an amazing colour. If I just buy one thing from this Topshop Makeup range, this will be it. I just hope it's fairly long-lasting and doesn't chip after the first day: as so often happens with cheap nail varnish that clothes brands bring out. However we are assured that this will be far from tacky, cheap teeny-y stuff:
"Designed by Topshop designer, Lizzie Dawson, whose day job is whipping up to-die-for blouses and lingerie, the range plays on the experimental nature of the Topshop customer, who’ll think nothing of throwing hair up into a grungy bun and sticking a giant flower in it, wearing a belt as a headband, a scarf around a handbag, and so on.
Expect the unexpected, especially when it comes to colour. Shades like The Big Smoke – a putty-coloured nail polish, not dissimilar to Chanel’s sell-out Particuliere, and Thistle – a pretty purple kohl pencil, are inspired by fashion, not makeup trends. And whilst the makeup finish on all products is professional standard, there’s not a huge focus on foundations. Skin Tint, a second-skin tinted moisturiser and Skin Glow, a face brightener (amazing under Skin Tint) are the only bases in the range. ‘We want girls to look real and their makeup to look lived-in,’ says makeup artist Hannah Murray." From this Grazia article.
I love that look with the feathers, I so want to try that. These pages are both scans from this week's Grazia btw, images belong to them.
The range hits stores in May: I foresee a big rush personally. I'm just going to hunt down that nail varnish. Mine mine mine.
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