Alexandra McQueen: Savage Beauty

Last weekend, i went to the Alexandra McQueen exhibition at the V&A. As mentioned before, the V&A is my favourite museum because you can tell every item has been exclusively selected and the only museum i have been to that knows the set is just as important as the exhibit. These two factors were clearly presented in The Savage Beauty exhibition. The clothes were like no other designer i have ever seen. The work was so intricate and i felt like it was more of an art exhibition than a fashion exhibition. The clothes was suited to their shape and their desired subject. I didn't feel like i was walking through different generations of work. Unlike most designers, every piece of clothing looked futuristic and unfamiliar; like it was designed yesterday.

What i also found so captivating was the set, music and general atmosphere. I've never been to an exhibition that creates such a tense and concentrated atmosphere. There was rhythmic and slow music playing and the lighting was dark and serene. The set was the best part because of the differences between every room. There were slanted mirrors behind some so you could see behind the clothing, different levelling and spacing and films and strange cosmic boxes displaying the clothes. There were quotes on the walls written by Alexandra McQueen. My favourite was: "Fashion can be really racist, looking at the clothes of other cultures as costumes... That’s mundane and it’s old hat. Let’s break down some barriers." I would recommend this to everyone, even if you don't like fashion mainly because of the striking sets. It is an unmissable exhibition.

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French Horses and Donkeys

When i went to France a few weeks ago, i spent a lot of time taking photos. These are some of the best ones of the donkeys and horses that lived at the side of a road near us. Everytime we took Noki on a walk, we met them. I really liked the colour of the fur on the donkeys so decided i wanted to paint one in watercolours. I painted the second photograph and i was quite pleased with both the photo and painting because i got the light on half the photo/painting and dark on the other. I really enjoyed going to see them everyday and seeing how the background and lighting changed the photo.

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Noki's First Holiday

A week ago my family and i took a holiday to the South of France and since this was our first holiday while having a dog, we decided to take her with us. Noki did not enjoy the two day car journey but soon recovered when she saw the garden. Every day we went on a three hour dog walk and it was so enjoyable to go at different times like the evening or very early. Noki also got a lot of attention from all the people there and she met her first donkey, horse and sheep, which was quite amusing. Because she is still an unreliable puppy, we bought her a 45m lead that we attached to a tree so that she could run around all day. She relished the garden sprinkler and tried to bite the water sprouting out.

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Leeds

I went to Leeds on my own a few weeks ago to see my brother. We spent the weekend eating amazing food and chilling out. On the first day, we made t-shirts and i helped him make his pinterest-worthy cork board out of wine corks. On the second night we went to a theatre production at the uni, which i really enjoyed. We had no idea what to expect and it was a play about a witch-boy and his town not accepting him- a tragedy fairytale. The next day, i met some of his friends and we went to Belgrave Music Hall and Canteen for some foreign food (who has tried deep fried naan bread?). The last day was spent in a speed boat (which then broke down) and i was helped my brother coach his rowing team. After getting very cold on the boat, we then had a vegetarian burger. The best thing about being a veggie is that it makes me steer away from my impulse food choice; instead of a bacon and cheese burger, i had the halloumi burger and caramelised red peppers and onions with homemade mayo. This was the best burger i have ever had because it was so juicy and fresh; the fries were also very crude.

I have already been to Leeds many times with my parents, which is when we saw some of the historical and educational parts of Leeds. This time, i really enjoyed just chilling out with my brother and eating so much fresh and unique food. Leeds is a really good place to chill out and have a relaxed time; theatre, food and walks.

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Noki's First Snow

Noki has never seen the snow before and randomly the other day it started to snow. I took advantage and shot a few photos. My camera is broken and won't take nice pictures; this is the best i can do. The snow makes everything so much more beautiful and pristine. The weather lately has been hot one day and cold the other. I love being able to wear everything in my wardrobe. Sadly, the snow only lasted for the morning and was gone by the end of the day but it was entirely mesmerising. Noki loved to smell around and kick it.

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Horst P. Horst

Yesterday, i went to a Horst P. Horst exhibition at the V&A, which happens to be my favourite design museum. I had never heard of Horst before, but i was immediately attracted to a poster i saw on the tube that displayed a photograph that almost looked like an animation; it was so bright. Surprisingly, although the exhibition is presented as being very colourful and fashion orientated; i found that the room with the coloured photos were less interesting than the majority of the exhibition which was mostly postcard-size black and white photographs that were more concerned about light than fashion. 

Horst P. Horst is his official name. Although, he did change his surname to his first name when America declared war on Germany in 1941; probably because his original surname was German. Horst was acclaimed for capturing fashion but later in his life he discovered an interest in botany and interior design. Horst was taught by Hoyningen-Huene, who clearly inspires his concern for light. Unlike Huene, Horst shows affection to obvious shapes.

Horst takes pictures of models and makes them look emotionless and motionless. The attention is on the light, which makes black and white photos more interesting because you aren't automatically drawn to the most vibrant colour but towards the spotlight. The light is never on the place that is expected- normally the corner of the photo, a black piece of clothing or on half an object. This gives Horst a chance to show off his skill's rather than the model's. He manages to catch the sparkle of jewellery but still effortlessly maintain that nonchalant look that all his photos have acquired. Horst uses oddly dispersed lighting and shapes that normally coincide with the models position. Horst wanted to appreciate what was there and what shapes he could enhance rather than what movement was occurring. 

Overall, the exhibition was beautiful and i am now very taken by photography. My favourite part about the exhibition was that there was a large number of photographs for all the different subjects he chose. I would definitely recommend this to all photography lovers because at the end it explains how Horst used to take his photos with the old film cameras. Artists may enjoy it too because he did some work with Dali but if you are going for the fashion then you will find that less than half of the exhibition concentrates on just that. The exhibition at the V&A ends on 4th January 2015. 

My Photo Wall

Finally, the Christmas holidays have come so i have time to have a huge clear out. I started cleaning my room on Monday and it took me two whole days. I never want to clean again. Cleaning and getting rid of old things brings me so much satisfaction because you start to see the results straight away. My room looks a lot less cluttered and i finally had time to look through my disposable camera photos and put some onto my wall.

Some of the photos are from my childhood and some i took a few weeks ago. It features pictures of my friends, pets, holidays and family. The best thing about this wall is that it's very personal and you can change it very easily. I attached mine with Blu Tack but alternatively you could use a cork board and pins. You could make a theme for the wall or add gem stones or homemade bows around the photos. Everyone that enters my room is drawn to it and it brings back so many good memories.

p.s hope you had a really great Christmas

Disposable Dog

Again, a disposable post! I wanted to do a post about my puppy and the best pictures were disposables so here they are. During the time i have this blog, i have a feeling that i am going to get quite a few questions on my dog. 

Noki is a Japanese Shiba Inu. Her name is short for Mononoke, which means spirits in Japanese. She is three months old and will grow just a bit larger than a spaniel. The breed are very rare and everyone in the streets runs up to her and calls her a fox, a cat or Basil Brush. When people say she looks like a Corgi i get very offended. She is basically a miniature Akita or Husky and she even has a curly tail too. 

Noki is the most well behaved puppy i have ever met...can i say that even though she is mine? Within her first week she was extremely comfortable with us and knew sit, stay and come. Now she is fully trained on and off the lead, can do paw and lie. I have two cats and she gets along perfectly with them. Her and the youngest one play and chase each other. At nine in the evening, Noki goes bonkers and runs all the way up and all the way down the garden ten times then suddenly stops and makes the funniest sounds. 

Before getting her i researched for a long time about Shiba's and they have always been my favourite dog and my family all decided that Shiba's were the best fit for us. It took me over three years to persuade my parents. Would you like a post on persuading your parents to get a dog?

Disposables

Lately, I have been really enjoying taking pictures on disposable cameras. I will admit they are an expensive way to remember moments, but i love how they make every pictures look vintage and they look really good on the wall or in a scrapbook. Although they don't come out as good as the website pictures show, cameras that add cute little printings are so fun and are a bit of a mystery of how your pictures will come out. It also encourages me to go outside and take nice pictures of nature and dogs and sheds.

At the top is my cat Kiki underneath the err...washing. My garden is so green and full of colourful flowers at the moment. I like to think Kiki just sits down and takes in her surroundings like a little old woman. In the middle is one of my best friends sitting in Hampstead Heath. She has this really amazing, vintage camera that lets her add quotes to the bottom of her photos like 'Happy Birthday' and 'Merry Christmas'. At the bottom is my brother and his handmade shed. I'm very proud of his shed; Noki loves it too. I wanted to paint it rainbow.