The Secret's Out!

Ahhh...A very good morning to you all! Guess where I am? Well how would you have an inkling of a clue? I'll just stop your guessing and tell you.

ALICE'S SECRET EMPORIUM
(The website is still under construction at the moment but its up! Still have a look around!)

I was asked by my darling friend Tom, the genius mind behind this awesome little shop, to man the fort for a few hours. This totally beats packing, trust me! I am absolutely delighted to be sat behind the til eagerly awaiting customers. But seeing as it's Saturday morning...oh let's just hope not too many people are hung over! I thought I might do a little bloggity whilst it is quiet!

Alice's Secret Emporium is nestled downstairs of BS8 on Park St. (34, Park Street, Bs1 5JG Bristol, United Kingdom to be exact!) . BS8 is actually really a lovely place to shop! There's clothing, fragrances, accessories, a little stall completely dedicated to designs made from driftwood (really cool stuff, mind!) and all the vintage things your heart desires.

Now ASE's is Just. Too. Cute. It's vintage heaven! So many of the items have been sourced from all over and you've got a lovely array of chine, jewelry, ribbons, buttons, brooches, old Singer hand sewing machines!!! You don't even know! The list goes on and on, trust.



I'm a huge fan of the decor (I've been really big on decor lately, making mental notes on my own place, I suppose!) Everything is displayed in bookshelves and in vintage shelves and dressers. The till is even hella old school, but I shan't tell you more about that!





All I'm saying is that this place is awesome. The people in the other bits of BS8 are really sound as well so if you're wandering on Park St anytime soon, come on down and get your hands on some amazing vintage stuff. You'll love it. And Tom's an absolute doll, so do say hi!

Check out the facebook page too! Totally like their page too. Ooo looks like potential customers are coming over. That's my cue! Ciao ciao!

P.S. She was lovely! She's getting married and bought a glass cake stand. Adorable! I wish her all the best for her special day!

Messy, messy.

Ugh.
My life is basically all over the floor. I am a messy bugger.

I need to get on with with tidying and packing, but the thought of food seems so much more appealing, don't you think? I'm thinking homemade bread yet again with a nice selection of spreads. I feel as if I should start a food blog as well. Would people enjoy that or...?

The work paid off.

Bit of press!

Aloha. Can I just stress the amount of excitement when I saw that people actually liked my collection. I watched the audience as my models went down the catwalk and their smiles and premature applause before the lineup really made me proud.

Now you can only imagine how chuffed (oh the British phrases I've picked up...) I was when the well known blogger Charlie May blogged about our show and I was included in her review! I was jumping for joy when my friend Shiv sent me a link about it. Have a gander at the loverly post she's done about the first half of our graduate fashion show.

A la Mode: UWE GRADUATE SHOW PART 1

And just cos I'm not selfish and I would love to help out my fellow designers as much as possible, check out the second half as well!

A la Mode: UWE GRADUATE SHOW PART 2

Big shout out to Charlie May though, you're seriously the bomb sniggety for blogging about us!

Another shout out to Miss Fashion Fashionista for also blogging about our show. It's even cooler that I know Fran personally and she was part of our support system last year when she was a third year and when she kept popping into uni with loads of advice for us this year. We are ever grateful and hope keep on inspiring girl!

INTRODUCING THE NEW GENERATION

Ah and there's yet another fashion-forward website called Whiteboard Fashion I've managed to get onto. My great friend James Morris came to the show and wrote an article about my menswear collection! When I read it, I was soooo honored! He wrote such an amazing article and I was so lucky that it was about my work and he legit liked it!

WE WENT, WE SAW, WE CONQUERED: GRADUATE FASHION SHOWS

So much love from the people. So much love! Seems I need to add a "Press" bit to my website now...Oh and we made the paper as well.

STUDENTS TURN ON THE STYLE IN FASHION SHOW

Okay I think I'm done. < / b r a g g i n g >

Out of my design coma

Ah how refreshing it is to...momentarily hang up the towel, so to speak. The past month was definitely an interesting one. The fashion show went down. Have some photos!

Photo Courtesy of Sarah Cassidy

Photo Courtesy of Steve Norton

Photo Courtesy of Alice Eaglestone

As I came to the end of making this collection, I really started to hate it. Why? I don't know, may simply be because I kept looking at it nonstop. I guess I can compare it to eating the same thing over and over again for a week. You just get tired of it, right? However when my mate Helen came to the rescue with male models, and I put my outfits on them, everything just clicked! I loved everything I made and my models were absolutely fantastic with all their swagger.

Footage Courtesy of Monty Kimball-Evans

It was a tiring two days, really. The venue was gorgeous, but there was no air circulation so all our models were practically dying and such of the heat. But they were all awesome! Mine were so amazing, in fact (and I felt so guilty for making them wear Autumn/Winter in the summer) I bought them all ice cream and nice cold drinks and insisted I bought them all a round later on at our after party. I cannot stress how amazing my models were. They knew exactly what they were doing, they knew what they were wearing, they didn't mind that I gave them wet socks because there wasn't enough time to dry them properly for the third show -- They were just amazing.

After our show in Bristol, some people were chosen to show their whole collections at Graduate Fashion Week in London and some others were chosen to bring their garments along. I brought my big distressed coat with me because that seemed to be one of the favourites. That same coat is actually going to New Designers as well so that will be interesting. I had no idea I would have been chosen to show my work at either show in London, but I'm honored that I was! More later about New Designers! Stay tuned, people!

C-c-check it out.

Hello. Peruse my wares, why don't you.




A sneaky sneaky peek of more of my collection. It honestly is all coming together and I am thrilled out of my mind. The fashion show is coming up and that means a whole mess of stress and confusion, but I am so very excited for the whole experience.

Here's yet another sneak peek of all the mayhem I went through to make my 2D work very loverly together. Art just isn't art without a bit of a messy bed and a kitchen table filled with drawings and various forms of caffiene.





Fancy huh? I'm working on getting my new website up and running at the moment, so lots more to juggle. How exciting. Now to prepare for my [mock] interview for my assessment. More soon, my lovely readers!

Oh what was that? I have a blog you say?

Whaaaat, hello blog, long time no see. It's not that I haven't forgotten about you, I just didn't have any time for you, ya get me?

But yes, hello readers, miss my rambles about final year? I'm pleased to say that [what I hope is] the hardest part is over! I've successfully made 6 outfits and handed them in on time and my tutors appeared to have been impressed by it! Ah what a relief! Have a peek of four of the fly boys that modeled my stuff. (Oh dont worry, you'll see the whole lineup later, relax!)


Who's pleased!? I am! There are still more things I need to do though like lengthen the red top under the blue cape and to burn the green jacket some more but that's all fun stuff! The guys who modeled for me were absolutely ace as well! Couldn't have asked for better models :)

Seriously though, I feel like I've learned a helluvalot over the past 3 months...Menswear was something completely new to me (because I'm not the biggest fan of my last "collection" ha) and I think I just about pulled it off! Goodness I can't even fathom that it took 3 months to make everything, what?! This definitely wouldn't have happened without the support of my coursemates though. We are the luckiest year, I think...simply because we're so keen to help each other and we really do look out for each other. There's no stererotypical fashion bitchiness in sight, which is phenomenal! I wouldn't have asked to go through all this manic panic without the Fashion Textiles girls of 2011!

Now its all about the 2D work and everything else ever...technical drawings, illustrations, samples, sketchbook...the FASHION SHOW!?! A whole new can of worms. Oh hay. Lots more to do, but thank goodness the hardest bit is over.

And as the pose suggests, "Yay, bitches!"