How to get the Hayley Williams Look

This week apart from being overloaded with my University work, I've found the time to still keep up to date with the latest and upcoming trends at the moment. As most of you all know my music means a lot to me and every now and then I like to see what my favourite bands and singers are wearing.

One band which has always been a guilty pleasure of mine is the American Pop Punk band Paramore and yesterday I finally got round to watching their latest music video 'Still into You'. Although the song is a complete contrast to their old stuff, I feel a change is what they needed to keep current. Hayley Williams (lead singer) also shocked me with her new incredible look, something I couldn't pull off myself sadly but with her it worked perfectly. When trying to piece together the look for this post, I realised that most of the clothing worn in the video is both affordable and from high street brands, with a favourite of popular of Hayley's being Topshop! I have had varied opinions on the paint drip tights, however I'm hoping this look catches on, as I would love to give them ago myself. Bright pastels and neons I feel are also just what we need to brighten up this spring. Although I haven't been able to find every item of clothing from the video, I hope you like my version of the outfit! Below I've listed where you can get most of the items from (just click on the item for the link).

For the 'Still into You' video Click Here.

1. Dweeb Crop Top - Topshop - £10

2. Wide Hinge Detail Belt - Topshop - £20

3. Lilac Scuba Skater Skirt - Nasty Gal - £24.72

4. Pastel Moto Jacket - UNIF - £110.81

5. Pro Long Eye Shadow - Mac - £16.50

6. Multitone Bubblegum Melting Tights - URB - £35.85

7. Baby Pink Lip Paint - Barry M - £4.49

8. Dr Marten 1460 Boot - Dr Martens - £100

Total Outfit Cost - £322.37

Design and Buying Internship as Debenhams

I have had the busiest month of my life, but it has all been worth it and I've had the most amazing news along the way. As most of you will know I am taking a year out from University to gain some work experience in the Fashion Industry and prepare me for the future career I have forever dreamed about. I am amazed and extremely grateful with the job offers I have received and although some have meant more to me than others I strongly believe in reliability. I have just completed my first placement as a Buying and Design intern at Debenhams for Red Herring. It was incredible and I feel that I have learnt and done so much  in such a short amount of time. Everyone I worked with was extremely lovely and I managed to bump into famous faces in the hallway such as John Rocha! On top of all of this the team I worked in were incredible and have said that I am welcome to come back anytime in the future! 

While working there I learnt that every brand in Debenhams, before starting the collection will look at all the key A/W trends, colours, fabrics and items taken straight from the Catwalk, they will then not only take ideas from this but compare against what other high street brands are doing and how they can compete. The buyers also have a big role in this as they need to know what type of samples to look at, some buyers will look at the high street, while others will go abroad to fashion capitals to see what's on the high street there, the main favourite being New York. The samples are then sorted through by the buyers to see what is either missing from the high street or what is a key trend to follow, this information is then sent to the designers to adapt and take inspiration from. The designers then create mood boards, do further research into trends for that season, and will design the collection keeping in mind their brand and target customer. However once this is complete the buyers have the final say in whether they want to change the colour, fabric, fit and anything they see is missing or wrong about the garment before it is sent to a supplier where it will be made. Once sent back the buyer will hold a fitting where a model will try the garment on, and the team will assess what needs to be changed, the garment will then  be sent back repeatedly until it is perfect. 

Once the collection has been sent out to stores, the buyers will check up on what is selling well and what isn't and review this on a regular basis to see what to improve on next time and what items could possibly be brought back again. The individual brands will also compare price points to other high street brands with simular styles to see whether they are too low or high, impacting on whether the customer shops there or not. All of this fascinated me as I never knew how much work went on into a collection. I could talk about what I have done and learned for hours but hope this post has interested you as much as it has with me and over the next few days be expecting more blogs on the key trends I've found! 

Damart: Reinventing the Thermolactyl Experience

I have just completed a garment technology project based on reinventing thermal wear. The brief was to design one or more item of lesuire/loungewear which could be worn as both outer and underwear. The project goes towards one of my modules at University, however was also set as a competition by the well established brand Damart, with the intention of widening their audience and welcoming a younger target market to their brand. The images above are taken from Damart's newest look book and certainly show the change in their image with styling becoming more younger and sexier.

For this project I wanted to combine leisurewear with activewear, creating an item of clothing which will have more than one purpose and function. I have chosen a light teal colour thermal fabric for the garment however for the binding detail I have reversed the fabric to contrast in a dark teal. For the panelling to fit into both categories of lesuire and activewear I coverstitched the pannel outlines, giving the garment a more sporty look. Below are images showing part of the making process I went through, however will be putting my design up at a later date.

I am extremely happy to say I have made it to the final stage of the competition. On the 7th of May I will have an interview and present my work to Damart for the chance a to win! Meanwhile during the easter break my work will be professionally styled and photographed. I couldn't be more happy right now and winning would mean the world to me but either way I am so appreciative to get this far in the competition!