Bath Spa Textile Degree Show

Today was a great day for seeing some fantastic textiles work. The quality and creativity of the pieces on show at the Sion hill Bath campus was impressive. Knitted samples, printed wallpapers, structural textiles, home products, 3D pieces and fabrics with layers of enhancing techniques were on display to the public from the 11th – 15th June. The work was both innovative and beautiful. Below are some ideas which really stood out….

Charlotte Raven – Textile Print Artist

Louise Smales-Cresswell – Textile Designer

Laura Osgood – printed textiles for interiors

Megan Shepard – Textile Designer

Urban Trendsetting…

– style.com
– zone7style
– Hype beast
– Slamxhype
– Selectism
– Freshness
– D’marge

Trend forecasting for smaller brands can be tricky as you often have to pay for vital ‘fashion of the future’ type information. For example, you can buy membership with well known trend analysis website WGSN (many high street brands use this when building their ranges for the next season). Thought it would be nice of me to share a few places to look for some fabulous freebie urban inspiration. The above websites share info about trends in Fashion, Art and Design. Zone7style even has a Vintage archive of designer items from the past (pics below). The websites include men’s and women’s fashions from America, Australia and the UK. Enjoy browsing! If anyone knows of other sites worth checking out, please add to comments below…..

Dress Commission – Elegant Deep Purple Bridesmaid dress

My latest client made me giggle when relaying the requests of her sister bride-to-be.  The brides instructions were clear: my client has the freedom to wear whichever style of dress she likes, (well, as long as it’s deep purple to fit with the colour scheme) but she must NOT “pull a ‘P Middy'”…  P Middy as in Pippa Middleton.  As in, don’t look too incredible in your bridesmaid dress and upstage me on my big day!!

We agreed that being told not to do something always makes you want to do it more (!) and also, any dress made by Beautiful Plumage does look beautiful – the clue is in the name…  However, one must be respectful when ones sister gets married so we decided to opt for something nicely tailored, knee length and with 3/4 length sleeves.  Elegance is key.  Here is an image of a similar style.  A sleek, fitted dress with wrap over neckline and a wide, obi belt style middle will be just the ticket for the late Sumer wedding.

Let’s see what we can do…

Beautiful Plumage Launches Cutworks

Check out the new jewellery range (below) which is a design collaboration between me and my sis.  The light blue acrylic ‘Bird in Flight’ necklace has already proven to be a big hit with several orders being placed on our first day of trading!  This is a new company and we need support so please check out and ‘like’ our facebook page using this link.  Here you will also find our other jewellery designs and info about up coming products and markets.

Thank you!

Christmas Market @ Victoria Park

The Victoria Park Christmas market which took place last Saturday was a real success.  Shoppers were spoilt for choice with tables of handmade Christmas gifts, decorations, homewares and treats galore!  Below is a picture of my table – I started to stitch these little robins a few weeks ago and they proved very popular.  They also make a nice little extra present for friends and family so I better get making some more!

As with all crafty style markets, it was great to meet some other designers/makers and purchase a few bits and bobs!  The second picture shows a gorgeous felt and sequined dove, which I couldn’t resist buying for our tree.  I also snapped up some handmade ‘Wiltshire Rosemary’ soap which smells and looks divine.

The next event at this lovely venue will be a 1920’s themed New Years Eve Party.  Tickets are £5 and dressing up is a must!  Get in touch if you would like more information about this event.

Manchester Vintage Fair

This weekend I visited a vintage fair ‘up north’ with my sisters.  We braved the cold weather and were happy to find a few trinkets to buy!  Some of the clothes seemed a little pricey for what they were e.g. a once loved but now severely outdated bridesmaid dress for £68 seemed a little steep.  However, it was really nice to chat to some talented new designers/makers about how they were customising/creating.  Here is a documentation of my time there in photos (including the labels which most impressed me!):

 

 

Really wanting a studded jumper right now…lucky I’ve ordered some antique brass studs to jazz up my wardrobe!

Beautiful Plumage at The Lanes Vintage Fair, Sunday 24th November

Haven’t posted recently as I’ve been super busy getting things together for The Lanes Vintage Fair.  The sewing machine and overlocker have been whirring away to help me create and customise a stylish AW12 Vintage collection.  Below are a few pics of items to be sold.  The colours are very autumnal with a dominant deep purple, brown, cream and warm pink palette – comforting in these grey and drizzly times!

handmade plum satin blouse

carpet bag style purse

vintage blouse in cream

vintage pink and cream dotted dress

I’m really looking forward to this event (especially the tea and cake stand) and hope to see lots of you fellow vintage-appreciators there!

Dress Commission: Tailor-made black formal

This gorgeous black number was finished and delivered to it’s new owner on Wednesday.  The client is planning to wear it to a Bond themed evening do and I just know that she will look fabulous in it!  Pictures from the evening are hopefully on the way but here are a few of the dress being carefully constructed.

Details –

• Upper = wrap over top in fine knit black fabric
• Lower = fishtail shaped panel pieces in sculpting yet flowing fabric.  Side zip.

Dress handmade by Beautiful Plumage.  See the ‘About’ page for details on how to use the bespoke design and make service.

Designer TV – Styled to Rock

Absolutely, 100%, loving this programme at the minute.  Been recording the series (thank you Skyliving!) and have watched each episode several times.  Producer Rhianna is looking for the next big fashion thing and is putting a bunch of hand picked designers through their paces with a new design and make challenge each week.  It’s been great fun to watch the designers come up with fresh, innovative designs for clients ranging from Katy B to Rizzle Kicks.  Established Fashion houses are given 3 months when creating a bespoke celebrity outfit/costume and these newbie designers are given only days to produce 1 of these outfits (which makes for a very tasty bit of drama!)  These designers are definitely worth their salt to get this far…

Catch the Final Episide on Sky Living tomorrow at 9pm.

Polished, industry educated and cool – Styled To Rock

Rhianna wants an innovative UK designer to create a street aware, urban cool, “feminine-yet-not-feminine” statement garment for her to wear to a key performace.  There is so much undiscovered talent in the UK that she may find it difficult to choose…

Rhianna’s team: Presenters Nicola Roberts and designer Henry Holland.

Further Info…

http://rp1.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/08/28/12/pinoy-handpicked-rihanna-fashion-contest

http://skyliving.sky.com/sky-living-shows-news-and-gossip/rihanna-joins-sky-living

http://tv.uk.msn.com/what-to-watch/tv-review-styled-to-rock

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG9448967/Still-Styled-to-Rock-Henry-Holland-and-Nicola-Roberts-take-our-style-challenge.html

http://tv.uk.msn.com/what-to-watch/tv-review-styled-to-rock

BeautifulPlumage at the next Bristol Independent Boutique Fashion Show

This event was on Friday and it was a great opportunity to meet some fellow independent Bristol designers and to see some of the creative ways they upcycle and reinvent clothing.  Hopefully we will be showing the Beautiful Plumage S/S range at the next event.

In attendance were:

• Kim’s Klobber
• Katella Bilek Designs
• TwentyThree Workshop
• Pearl Bespoke Designs
• Fox and Feather
• Phoebe Wang @ 7th Sea
• Shop on Gloucester Road

And after a short interval:

• Portabella
• Cox and Baloney
• La Grace Ekall
• Sophie Hutchings
• Pink Lemons
• Bags of Love
• 71 and Queens

And here are a few of my favourite pictures from the evening…