A brief look into the near future

I've got so much up in the air at the moment. Perhaps too much? We'll see. It's not long until the end so there is a looming sadness. I got a random e-mail today asking me to go to Oxford to take pictures at Oxford Fashion week, so I'm going to do that on Thursday which should be cool. I'm not paying transport so yea sure why not. Here is some of the work made by the girl who asked me to come.
I had a meeting about the end of year show which is fast approaching. I need to find out what I want to do for that and decided upon a space. Perhaps invite some people? I'm doing a shoot on Friday with Fashion designer from BCU who's made a jacket, and our shoot's theme/feel is 'a sense of akwardness'. I have something building in my mind so look forwards to that. I'm also putting together a shoot with Genevieve deLande Long and Stephanie Reeves but I'll tell you more when things are confirmed.
What else is there? I'm entering a local competition and should really be focusing more of my attention on it but I'm excited by my idea. A shoot inspired by the great red dragon.
I did a self portrait yesterday which I really enjoyed, painting myself white. I would LOVE to be that colour, unfortunately I know of no way this could be possible.
That's enough for now, hopefully I'll be reposting with something more substantial tomorrow.

Men's Fashion

I got out from the library 'one hundred years of menswear'by Cally Blackman because I feel it important to have at least a basic knowledge of the subject. Cally (who teaches fashion history at Central st. Martins) gives in her opinion a brief history of men's wear. She starts by saying that menswear is often seen as dull in regards to the obvious glamour of women's fashion and this is somethign I have to agree with. Even today as I trawl through catwalk pictures all I seem to see is a sea of grey suits.
However she goes on to remind us what a large impact men's fashion has had on the industry, and especially in women's fashion. It is women who adopt the male wardrobe such as suits, trousers and shirts, and later work and sportswear. She also details how men are often responsible for introducing 'subcultural modes of dress', including, new romantics, gangsters, zoot suiters, Zazous, Teddy boys, hippies, mods and punks.
Blackman discusses how the suit is the most successful garmet of all time due to its functionality and adaptability. Recently I have learned of the reasoning behind the development of clothes and the need for functionality. Prior to the war, clothes were larger and used more material, but throughout the war period material was rationed for uniforms etc so clothes became slimer, and needed to be easy to menouver in.
Blackman says "To adapt a phrase from Le Corbusier, the suit is a machine for living in, close-fitting but comfortable armour, constantly revised and reinvented to be, literally, well suited for modern daily life."
I know it's not just me but armour... no, workers uniform/prison... yes. I relate wearing a suit to be like working in an office, everyday, the suit becomes your second skin. It begins to define you (here's the anti-industrialist Tyler coming out) but, today my modern life is not suited by a suit.

Testino on Testicles

In my dissertation I'm writing about Mario Testino and his perception of male fashion photography (or something to that extent). Testino says that although he loves to photograph men the depth of their vanity is limited. I find this arguable but his work speaks for itself. The images he has captured of men are fantastic, but I wonder whether he believes that to be the full extent of the man's place in fashion. It's taking us a long time to come to terms with the fact that yes, men moisturise, but I think the 'depth' of men's fashionabilty is growing.

Negative space and studio shoots

It's been a long time coming for this blog but I'm finally ready to put up some of the shots from shoots I did recently. Before uni came to an end I organised some shoots with a couple of guys called Xander Bliss and Liam Wild and I made this shoot based around negative space. Below are a couple of my favorite images from the shoot.
On that same day I did another studio shoot with them because they brought a suitcase full of the best clothes so how could I resist?Then later on that week there was Romeo Draven and here's a shot from that shoot too.