Commons and sense

http://www.commons-sense.net/ I hope I can find a copy of this as it bridges my love of fashion with the girls love of Manga.

Plaza Magazine

www.plazamagazine.com A bizarre concoction but worth a look.

10 reasons not to get out of bed

1. Parents complaining about their little princess being told off.
2. Daughters who will not just look at the other 6th form college even though the results are brilliant and she wants to go to medical school.
3. Its been so bloody cold you come home and pack the Linen away and get out the wool.
4.Your Christmas/New Year itinerary goes to pot because the only train to Prague via Cologne goes via Brussels and we have booked a hotel and Euro ticket to go via Paris, so now we have to go via bloody Berlin staying in the same boring hotel as last time miles from any interest..and it cost 4x the price of flying.
5. You get your gym bag and realise that you left your wash bag at the gym the last time, did anyone hand it in? no, bang goes my Liz Earle stuff.
6. Your youngest demands you paint a shoe box white, which you do but with the wrong paint, and do we have any turps no so my hands are whiter than the bloody box.
7. Your kids go to see their dad without doing their chores so you end up doing them again.
8. The dog craps under the washing line so you have to clean up dog crap alley after its rained.
9.The hose is broken so when you try to fix it the hose whips out of your hand and soaks your favourite cashmere hoody.
10. You are cold and feel fat.

Emma Gale

http://www.emmagalejewellery.co.uk/ I have just found this via Origin Craft Fair which I am hoping to go to next week I would really like to afford this but....

Alison Willoughby

http://www.alisonwilloughby.com/biog.html

Wish I was wearing this it might make me feel more tropical. I am so jealous reading the Cuffington blog, where it is so warm. I am sitting between two fan heaters but moving around the building is tooooo cold. Looking at the pictures in Milan of the rain reminds me I need a Mac but like the elusive black trousers and perfect black flats I have yet to find it. I think sometimes I expect too much from one item.

A Collage a day

http://www.acollageaday.blogspot.com/ I am obviously very late finding this site as it goes back to Jan 2006 but better late than never. A great idea I wish I had the time but all I do is meander through blogs and web sites and write lesson plans. Roll on Paris fashion week.

Feel the Marni love

Geek fashion seems to be making a bit of a comeback, I love Marni but would struggle with some of the tabbard style tunics. It is the jewellery that I have always loved and coveted and even though there is a bit of a Dalek influence here,. the bangles are just gorgeous

Dianne Kornberg

Dianne Kornberg at www.elizabethleachgallery.com 15 new bright eyed bushy tailed photography students has renewed my interest in finding new artists, this one is brilliant lots of work to see on the web site, very ethereal.

Like buses

Well it seems fashion shows are like buses hardly a decent show for days and then 4 fabulous ones at once I could show you loads but they are easy enough to find on Style.com. The best come first but they are utterly brilliant

1. Etro

2. Blumarine

3. Missoni

4. Prada

This great city

As a child I grew up with the Science museum as my backyard and Hyde park as my garden.
Then I was whisked away to farthest Yorkshire for my formative years leaving me yearning for the bright lights. So when I was applying for art colleges every one was based in London and by a fluke I blagged my way into Camberwell. Happy again, I have stayed but recently I have felt a little jaded with this great city. Last week my cousin met us all for a bite to eat, she lives in Perth and had not spent much time in England other than as a U.M (unaccompanied minor). She was so enthused about the place and reminded me of what a cultural desert she lived in,with bands rarely visiting, no big blockbuster exhibitions and for all my moaning she is right. If you scratch the surface there are some fabulous quirky shops there is very little you cannot buy here. So a big thank you to Rebecca for opening my eyes and to Susie Brooks for the screen prints, I visited her studio on holiday and you can buy these via the http://www.wills-art.com/

new today

Some of my favourites from today, two from Gianfranco Ferre representing NY girl in the city look, the second two from Just Cavalli who maybe tarred by the brush of Beckham but I love the L&A pool style he does and I am really starting to like the African pattern theme that is working through many of the collections.

Glass

Every time I go to the V&A I go up to the glass gallery, to get to it you have to go through the Architecture gallery which itself is fantastic but the glass is my favourite so I always take lots of photographs and the best cabinet is the Roman glass.

Something new

http://little-doodles.blogspot.com/ had a lovely visitor the other day so I shall look forward to the back issues.

As for the rest of the day....

I spent 2 hours number crunching just to satiate the desires of management, so much for Tony Blair’s initiative to put teachers back in the classroom. I then with horror realised that when I plugged the new camera into the school network I had not specified the area I wished to save the photos to, Four sets were lost in cyberspace, another 2 hours later I had hunted them down via 7 long painful stages but they are now where they should be and a lesson has been learnt DON’T JUST PRESS SAVE, look.
Hard to believe that during this I was teaching as well, but my ability to multitask knows no bounds at work.
My finally misery making task is to respond to another management directed piece of c**p. Assessment FOR learning as opposed the good old tradition of assessment OF learning, i.e.; scrawl over the work in red pen give it a grade and move on. Now we have peer assessment, formative assessment, summative assessment, on and on, molly coddling the little darlings through the pain of learning, not exactly preparing them for the harsh reality of life is it? It does not work, they either want to learn or they don’t, apart from financial incentives very little works so another 2 hour’s paper work when I should be doing more important things like of course this blog!
Oh and I forgot my favourite, G&T, not the drink but gifted and talented. I teach within a 5 mile radius of 5 girls Grammar schools and 1 selective school so the chances of a talented, let alone gifted child falling into my lap is some where between fat chance and no chance. Any that I bring up to speed jump the fence ASAP. 7 of my students gained a grade A at GCSE, each one is now doing A Levels at the Grammar. How do you quantify talent in a subject that is so subjective? All you hear at moderation meetings are “Oh well she can draw” so if you can render an object within an inch of its life consider yourself talented. Which brings me back to Kate.

V&A

A great day spent at the V&A seeing the couture exhibition, spent most of the exhibition marvelling at the size of the waists. The clothes were fabulous too, we had a lovely lunch in the cafe, although sadly the courtyard was out of bounds. After a long meander round the glass galleries we sauntered down to knightsbridge where I managed to keep my purse closed despite temptation. I reflected that one of the problems with shopping areas in England is the generic nature of whats on offer, there are very few surprises. The dress my mother bought in Oxford can be found in Knightsbridge or Bath which means that sometimes it can dull the senses, especially after what I had seen,

Alain Gerard Clement

I have a large photography group this year and the girls are really keeping me on my toes. These ephemeral photograms are from Alain Gerard Clement via http://www.lisasettegallery.com/. very beautiful.

Everyone loves a sailor

Yesterday I took 40 students to Greenwich park to visit the Maritime Museum and do some drawing in the park, the weather was great, the kids were great, but the day was made for me by visiting a small but perfectly formed exhibition called Sailor Chic, at the end of the displays was a stunning Jean Paul Gaultier Couture outfit and some Antonio Marras drawings for the Kenzo Spring/summer ready to wear 2006. They were just utterly beautiful with exquisite detail beautifully drawn. If only I could find them via the Internet, but only the real thing was available, if you are close by have a look. When I had Daisy I dressed her from head to toe in the French fishing village style, matelot tops, jersey denim trousers and sailor dresses, but soon her own style kicked in and my ideas were taken off and discarded for strange combinations resembling Amish meets Hasidic Jew!
Both Kitty and Leyla have quickly found there signature style, each totally different, Kitty is like eclectic chav/emo. Leyla is groovy chic Gap girl.
Where do they get it from? how does this style evolve? I am a great believer that they are born like it and my influence is minimal, who wants a mini me like some celebrities do? I can but dream.

Pretty

Its all going very sweet and pretty after the Gothic shock of Gareth Pugh even Christopher Kane has been playing in John Rocha's off cuts box. So far I have liked Erdem, Doro Olowu and the last two images Paul Smith who I have always had a soft spot for since when Daisy was 2 yrs we were shopping in Floral St and he stopped in his tracks said what a pretty baby leaned over the counter and gave her a tooth brush! Bizarre, but true what a nice man and the clothes are lovely too.

Raven

Is it me or has Mr Pugh been watching far too much CBBC this summer. The show was amazing but shades of James Mackenzie issuing his instructions was never very far away.

Still Beautiful

When I was at college I fell in love with the myth that was Nancy Cunard, I read her biography and of course loved the Iconic Man Ray photograph these amazing photographs are inspired by. I loved the image so much I tried hard to accessorise in a similar style using antique silver cuffs. Once I had children they became impractical and I have passed them on to my mother. These photographs are just fantastic.

Yummy Scrummy

Photos from http://www.style.com/

Top Shop I have not been a huge fan and rarely go in but these are lovely and could entice me to have a closer look. London Fashion Week has been much more fun to look at than New York. Christopher Kane is well worth a look for the floaty light look.

Bronwen Sleigh

More from www.wills-art.com saw this work at the summer exhibtion and loved it.