Tuesday 13 January 2015

Old Journal Posts


About 10 minutes ago i was flicking through an old note book i found to take to university and in the back i found torn out pages from an old journal I used to keep. Reading through the jumbled up pages came with a mixture of emotions. Most the people mentioned throughout the entries are still a major part of my life and a few ... not so much. Reading my writings from 2013 has hit me hard and I felt i needed to write about it. I feel like i can still relate to some of the issues i mentioned, but see them now in a completely different light. I guess that happens when you get older, or have a good two years to reflect on certain issues. Two years seems like ages ago and i'm glad I wrote those posts, just for the the pleasure of finding them today.

Monday 12 January 2015

LCM! MAHARISHI A/W15



On January 10th I was lucky enough to get tickets to London Collection: Men; for the Maharishi A/W 15 showcase. It was an early start, as the show was at 11am, which isn't too early, but as i'm not in the London area transport had to be considered. As I received two tickets, I invited a friend of mine and we both dressed up and made our way down to LDN. 
When we arrived, the queue outside the New Oxford Street venue (The Old Sorting Office) wasn't too long, but we had arrived 45 minutes early, this was great for us as we got too see all the people arrive and see what amazing clothes they were wearing! The queue became longer and the number of photographers grew. My friend and I were both asked for photographs a few times, which is always nice. We are both dreading the photographs as the weather was awful; powerful wind and heavy rain! Never good for a killer hairstyle. 
Just after 11am, the doors opened and we watched the seated queue filter in, just after Tinie Tempah arrived (an ambassador for LCM) dressed in a black suit, looking very sharp! Once everyone was seated, our tickets were inspected and we made our way into the venue. The venue was very chic, minimal and black, four rows of seating either side of the runway and then space for standing ticket holders. When we entered i started speaking to an organiser and he managed to get my friend and I seats on the third row, or the THROW as we named it. 
The audience drew quiet as strip lights turned on chronologically up the runway, filling the cave like venue with solid white light. The music started, and so did the fashion. 
Maharishi's A/W15 collection was a casual aesthetic that can be described as a infusion of millitary and street wear. Keeping its colour schemes minimal with the use of black and khaki greens, many of the looks resembled camouflage army uniforms. The show was amazing; which made me want to wear everything and the beats throughout made me want to go and find a club!
When the show ended the venue drained, and the New Oxford Street address became quiet, as bloggers, photographers and LCM viewers were all on to their next shows. 
My experience of LCM was a great one, and has pumped me up for this February's LFW. I only hope to return to LCM next season as its great for menswear fashion to dominate a huge fashion event. 

Wednesday 7 January 2015

DYED MY SHOES!





The other night I was cleaning out my wardrobe and was in pure shock when I noticed the state of all my shoes ('pure shock' is a slight overstatement, but i'm usually a clean person)! They were smothered in mud, unpolished and just a general mess. After a quick reorganisation, I decided to clean all of my dirty shoes, this included a few pairs of converse, suede loafers, brogues and my white Doctor Martin canvas covered shoes. After a few hours of scrubbing and polishing my dad suggests it'd be a great idea to to put my Doctor Martins in the washing machine (as the stains were DEEP). Lets just say that my dad was wrong! The tanned leather insoles of the shoes had ran and stained all of the outside shoes, making them look even worse than when they went in. I was gutted! But thanks to fabric dye I managed to save them, and bag myself a "new" pair of shoes. 


The process included:

Dylon Velvet Black Fabric Dye (not washing machine version!),
some Rubber Gloves,
Spray Bottle, 
a Bucket,
a Sponge,
Destroyed Shoes,
Masking Tape, 
Plastic Bags
and some Patients (lots of it)


The transformation took about a day, but the majority of the time was waiting for them to dry (using a hairdryer helped). I simply mixed up the Dylon following the instructions on the back of the packaging and filled a spray bottle with the mix. I then masking taped the soles (to keep them clean) and stuffed the insides with plastic bags (to protect the leather inside). I took the spray bottle, and misted the shoes with the dye, for a good half hour, rubbing in the dye with my fingers, and making sure I was happy with the coverage. I then returned around an hour later and did the same, again leaving it for an hour or so. When I came back I used a wet sponge to try and remove any excess dye and again left them to dry (this is when the hairdryer came out because I was becoming impatient). 



Once they were dry, I re-laced them and they look like a new pair of shoes! I'm really happy I decided to upcycle these "trash destined" shoes (even though they've turned denim blue and not velvet black?)

So if you're reading this and you have an old pair of shoes you're going to throw away, think twice and get creative!