art

‘Pen to Paper’ is a feature on TDP which involves an informal handwritten form of interview between myself and creatives –  from fashion designers, photographers, journalists, artists and musicians, to people who generally inspire me from day-to-day. 

~ READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT ~

FUTURE GARBAGE created by David Olson was not something I was expecting to be so enthralled by. Often the essence of projects like these (it is essentially a project after all – perhaps a digital art installation more than anything else) don’t quite catch my attention or are simply too nuanced, leaving me feeling a little detached from the art I’m supposed to connect with.

It’s either my bias towards issues like this – the topic of fast-fashion and consumerism – or it’s the fact that David hit the nail on the head, creating something that is unique yet ultimately relatable for all who are interested in fashion and how it’s served to us in Western society.

As soon as I heard the words ‘future garbage by FUTURE GARBAGE’ spoken in a voice-over which felt eerily realistic and similar to those of chic, high-end campaigns; I was sold.

The concept is simple – what’s trendy today is trash tomorrow. We live in a world where what we’re sold will become future garbage, and I (quite obviously) agree with David that now is the time we need to change that.

One thing that you’ll notice when browsing the FUTURE GARBAGE site and perusing the collection is that the prices for each garment seem to be absurdly overpriced. I knew straight away that this wasn’t a literal price tag; this was a statement about what we expect from our clothes in a world where brands like H&M exist.

In my communications with David, he explained it as a commentary on fast-fashion. Prices may be low but there is still a high-profit margin due to the fact that wages along the supply chain are extremely low.

However, David (in his own words) is a “westerner” who has a different “standard of life” than people in third world countries making sweatshop wages.

The price, therefore, reflects that. David asked himself how much profit – he, a middle-class westerner – should be making if “a shirt made by someone who earns $2/day costs $10”. What does that price look like for him? Roughly $10,000 for a denim jacket. Shocked? Well, that’s the point too. How much are you really willing to pay for something in a world where we’re so accustomed to low prices?

David hasn’t just covered the usual aspects of ethics and sustainability though, he’s also covered the issues surrounding diversity and feminism which is refreshing (although it shouldn’t be; these things are vital and should be factored in no matter what).

One of my favourite pieces of FUTURE GARBAGE ‘propaganda’ involves David touching upon the hypocrisy that can be found with the likes of Beyonce – if girls run the world and if her Ivy Park collection is supposed to empower women, how come the female workers who produce her sportswear, are suffering? 

One of the other short films created for ‘future garbage by FUTURE GARBAGE’ centres around David himself, dressed up as a woman. The voice-over says, “Look, everyone, it’s a transgender model. Or maybe a drag-queen. We’re not really sure, I don’t think we ever asked.”, highlighting the fact that the fast-fashion industry is not only ignorant to just garment workers; it’s even ignorant to understanding those who they choose to dress.

If ethics are to do with morals – then when we talk about ethical fashion it has to mean more than just a vague statement or policy here and there. It needs to mean complete change overall and it needs to happen now. Or yesterday. Definitely, yesterday. 

What do you think of FUTURE GARBAGE? How much are you willing to pay for a piece from the collection? Let’s discuss in the comments. 

If you’ve been reading my blog for long enough then you’ll know that I used to fairly regularly post updates of my personal art scrapbook. I used to really enjoy my “Scrap Social” series and I know a lot of you did too…

I didn’t always update you on new pages due to my blog schedule not necessarily allowing for it but after a while, that wasn’t the reason for my lack of posting. Like a lot of art, there comes a point where you usually grow out of certain styles and practices. For me, ‘scrapbooking’ (in the way that I was) hasn’t been enough and since recognising that, I haven’t felt I’ve had anything worthy of sharing, either.

However, sharing isn’t my reason for writing, in fact, I’d have to say it has more to do with consuming. I believe my consumption and intake of other art is what stops me at that first hurdle and which perhaps maybe stopping you and other people from doing the same.

It almost reminds me of the pressures of school and seeing everybody’s pieces lined up and feeling put down and de-motivated when there was something significantly different to the rest in my work.  There are so many artists and creators out there who all have such distinctive styles, it’s incredibly difficult to step back and work on your own work without comparing the two. This, of course, applies to more than just art, so much so, that I used to struggle with this on my blog.

Going back to how scrapbooking didn’t feel enough to me… I think part of that reason was due to the fact it allowed me to fall back onto other mediums and references which would automatically start the ideas flowing without my real creative thought. I was creating but I wasn’t creating anything new or fresh for myself.

Combining that with the pressure of influence and trying hard not to be over-influenced, you can see how I might have lost track a little. I reached a dead-end in pushing myself forward and now all I know and seek out are my comfort zones.

I wish I was here to spew out advice and list down ways I’ve managed to overcome this challenge but I’m afraid I’m still in this limbo. I’m stuck in a creative sandpit where I can only manage to build sandcastles made of everybody else’s sand. (I’m also terrible at analogies, it seems).

I understand using references and inspiration is a huge part of all art – it’s why fashion takes from past decades and why music often doesn’t necessarily fall into one genre with how it sounds and feels – but in becoming your own artist, there comes a time when you need to stop relying upon it, in my opinion, even if it’s only temporarily.

Organic Cotton “Art is My Distraction” Patch £4.99 (Shenaniganz)*

I feel extremely confident in who I am as an artist online. I’m proud of the content I publish and produce and I feel sure that my style is distinct enough to shine among the rest, I’m just not sure how to achieve that same level of confidence with the art I create and produce with my hands.

In fact, that’s a whole other topic in itself. With online content creation, we can add filter after filter and delete picture after picture but there are only so many pages we can tear out of a sketchbook and throw in the bin before the book is empty and well, the Amazon Rainforest is no more.

Have you dealt with similar when it comes to the creative process? How have you managed to get back on your feet? Let’s discuss in the comments! I need inspiration!

Before you go! I want to know what you want to learn about ethical fashion! Fill in my survey here, if you want answers to any burning questions you have in mind. There are also instructions on how to nominate me as a Young Green Leader in the Observer Ethical Awards, which nomination deadline has been extended to October 22nd, 2017.

As part of my Scrap Social series, I thought it would be interesting to take a look into the scrapbooks of other bloggers and creatives in the form of a Guest Scrap Social feature! We’ve previously taken a flick through the pages of Holly and Jacky, but now I have the wonderful Areeba from Not Your Type. (Also big shout out to Katie for introducing me to her!)

Why do you use a scrapbook? I’ve always used a diary/journal to write or make art so it has become a part of me after all these years and I feel like I can’t live without one. It helps me to give my creativity energy a way.

What are your favourite methods? Layering. I love putting pieces together, pasting different things on the page, making a lot of layers, balancing colors and drawing on pictures. I try to do much more on 2 pages than looks possible.

Where do you find the images for your pages? They’re mostly from calendars (my nanna has a lot of them) or newspapers. All of the magazines that I have are mostly about literature so they’re usually disappointing when it comes to visuals. So I’m always looking for calendars or maps because they have waters or skies, which are my most favorites.

Has your scrapbook inspired you to go further with any other projects/ideas?I started an art journalling project with a fellow blogger in January called #ohjournaletc, it’s mainly based on Instagram to give the teen artist community a direction to channel their creative energy into something.  We have weekly art journalling prompts to help them come up with excuses to make art. It’s been going pretty well so far.

This is my favourite page (first image above), which is your favourite out of this selection? The one with ribs and Lorde lyrics all over them. I’m a Lorde freak and these are my top 3 songs from her. And it feels like a little tribute to her through my art.

Do you think each page represents a period in your life, or the mood you are in? Not the mood, but the life changes I’m going through. I like spilling my current life phase on the paper to see how it looks like if turned into art.

When and where do you create your wonderful collages? Mostly in my room after midnight or in late afternoon. Mainly when I can’t sleep. I have this little wooden table by my bed and it’s loaded with my journals and art materials so it’s always easy to reach my creative tools whenever I want.

Do you think your scrapbook is a representation of your personality? Definitely yes. It’s creative, different, abstract with a touch of madness. It is so me.

Paint or Ink? Paint. I feel at freedom with them. Also, paint brushes are my most favorite tools.

Glitter or Puffy Paint? GLITTER! Give me some glitter and liquid glue and I’ll be the happiest girl in the world with pages full of glittery art.

Neat or Messy? Neat. I like all the pieces in their position, all colors balanced and blending perfectly with each other.

You’ve bought a new magazine which would be perfect for scrapbooking. do you chop it up straight away after reading, or wait a little while until it’s considered ‘old’? I’ll cut it into piece right after I’m done reading, if it has something that would make my art journal look prettier. I don’t care about magazines much.

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~ ABOUT AREEBA ~

Areeba is a creative lifestyle blogger who celebrates being different over her blog Not Your Type. She reads a lot of psychology thriller books and always has an excuse to make more art. She’s a professional fangirl and she is in love with a city. Culture and human psychology are two things she is always curious about.

BLOG – TWITTER – INSTAGRAM – PINTEREST – #OHJOURNALETC

Unfortunately LFW fell at a bit of an odd time for me to do London Fashion Blog Week this season, which is why this post has absolutely no reason to the great fashion month that has already kicked off. This post is a little lifestyle-y but with a small outfit thrown in too. My family and I traveled to Rome for a nights stay in an AirBnB (our first ever experience), so that my brother could go off and see Ronaldo do his thing against A.S Roma ⚽ and so I could go and take a look at some of those great Michelangelo paintings. So here are some pictures from the two days we were there…

WHAT I WORE: Black Faux Fur Coat (Jumble Sale) // ASOS Dip Dye Jeans (DIY) // Blue Mono Pascal Boots (Dr Martens) // Floppy Hat (ASOS)

I’ve actually been to Rome a few times before but I couldn’t really remember that much of it, so it was nice to really soak it all up. I especially loved the architecture, and how colourful it all was. Italians seem to love their painted houses and Rome was full of colourful buildings, especially in gorgeous muted pink tones… perfect for outfit snaps as you can see from above!

We were actually lucky enough to take a trip to the Vatican museum which takes you through the Vatican all the way into the Sistine Chapel. It was a really cool experience but definitely don’t go unprepared without a good pair of shoes… it’s a long walk! Some of the art work really is quite incredible and you’re lucky enough to be able to take photos which is quite rare (although not in the Chapel… they made that very clear).

WHAT I WORE: Black Faux Leather Biker Jacket (ARK)* // Geometric Maxi Dress (ASOS) // Floppy Hat (ASOS)

The paintings really are quite incredible, mainly because they’re all in such good condition. The Last Judgement really is quite spectacular… it’s huge and you don’t really get enough time to take it all in due to the fact that you’re crammed into the chapel with hundreds of other people (they really need to only let in a certain amount of people at one time). I’d recommend it though! The whole tour was definitely worth it, even if you’re not necessarily that interested in ART… to be able to say you’ve been around the Vatican is quite a statement.

There was also a Matisse exhibition showing which was exciting for me as I’m a big fan of his work…. a picture in front was of course obligatory. Excuse the messy hair… long days with long hair = frizz and mess… a hat is an essential item! There was also a collection of lots of different artists including Salvador Dalí, but sadly most people were just walking on past. Stop and appreciate it, people!

DR MARTENS: Blue Mono Pascal Boots (Dr Martens) // Black Virginia Leather 1B99 Boots (Mastershoe-MyShu)*

LOCATION: Via dei Coronari, Rome, IT 🇮🇹

So I’ll talk a little about my outfit… I accidentally wore a combination that gives the illusion of blue knee high boots. Oops. It didn’t look so bad in real life, but in photos you could most definitely mistake my trousers for boots!

Talking of boots… I officially have four pairs of Dr Martens thanks to winning the Facebook page give-away they run every week. Definitely worth the two minutes of filling it out because now I have another pair in my collection!

Have you been to Rome? Where did you visit? Let’s chat in the comments!

As I mentioned in this post, I want to start really talking with you guys about different topics especially on the line of being yourself and confidence. I asked you guys whether you had any questions (not necessarily directly about being yourself) and an interesting one I received was about ‘ART & Film’. Seeing as these sorts of things can be a huge influence on personal style and fashion in general, I definitely had to give a go at answering it! I’m mainly going to focus on film in this one, but if you’d like to see me delve more into ART, let me know! (Images via Tumblr)

❓ How do you incorporate ART & film into what you wear? ❓

~ THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS ~

(1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6)

Films and fashion go together in a really funny way, because it’s not all about the clothes. If it was all simply about the clothes, catwalk shows would simply just be a selection of models walking down a runway with no make-up, no specifically tousled hair and no music to keep in time with their footsteps.

Fashion is all about the whole feel and mood of everything, from step one (of waking up in the morning) to step one hundred (taking your shoes off at the door)… there’s so much in between that adds up to our personal style each day, and films are a great way to look at it all like that.

I hate to say the word because it’s probably rather over-used nowadays but certain films come with a certain aesthetic which set the tone for the costumes, make-up and hair and overall the fashion. 

So of course, a great place to start is the wonderful array of Wes Anderson films we have to watch. My personal favourite (out of the ones I’ve so far managed to watch) is The Royal Tenenbaums because of Gwyneth Paltrow’s character.

My sister says that Margot reminds her of me (?!) but in one way that’s kind of cool because of her awesome outfit choices. Margot’s me when I’m moody. She wears simple pieces but she has to top it off with something extra, usually in the form of a fur coat.

So you’re probably wondering? How do I actually incorporate the vibes and general tone of The Royal Tenenbaums and it all comes with? By taking certain elements subconsciously and channeling them into my outfits… like collars and muted tones; faux fur and flat shoes. I don’t necessarily have to seek out to end up looking exactly like Margot Tenenbaum… it just sort of happens organically whenever a picture shows up or I end up re-watching the film.

~ GOD HELP THE GIRL ~

(1&2 // 3 // 4 // 5&6)

However, there are times when I do purposely seek out to recreate a character. The thing with fashion and dressing is the fact that you can transform into whoever you want to be, and sometimes I just really feel like channeling the ways of Eve from God Help The Girl. I mean, that leopard print and stripe combination? It has me written all over it.

There’s actually a really nice clip in this movie of the character, Cassie, doing her make-up in the style of Aladdin Sane (David Bowie), but then she ends up scrubbing it all off, and I think that’s a nice way of summing up how it’s okay to recreate styles and personalities from what we see on TV/social media, but it’s also okay to try and do your own thing, even if that person truly inspires you.

So although I have sometimes felt like being Eve, there’s always that Tolly touch to things and I don’t think that will ever go away. After all, the question I received was about how I incorporate art and film into my outfits… and I guess that’s exactly what I do.

~ THIS IS IT ~

On the other end of things, there’s also fashion films which are specifically created to add depth to a collection or brand. It’s usually a short video that revolves around a couple of characters at most, with items of clothing on full show, but a strong sense of plot still there.

I’m not going to lie, the main reason I included this specific fashion film is because it includes Alison Brie (from the show Community – my favourite TV show ever… I’ll take any chance I can to promote it (#andamovie!)) but I do genuinely like it.

It’s not necessarily in keeping with my current personal style, but the dreamy lighting and general idea of it really pulls me in and for some reason any ART film that includes roller blades seems to attract people’s attention. It’s actually for the designer jewellery brand Irene Neuwrith and I think it’s a pretty awesomely put together piece.

How do you incorporate ART & film into what you wear? Let me know in the comments!

Hello everyone! Do you remember a while back, I got Papa Posh (aka. my dad) to write a lil’ post for me? Well, you guys seemed to really like that, so today I have dragged in Mama Posh (can you guess who she is?!) to do one too! I’m hoping to get most of my family members to write a post each, so it should be fun! Today Mama Posh is going to speaking all about how to stay creative. We’re a pretty creative family, so hopefully this will help, especially for you fellow bloggers 🙂 Take it away Mama Posh…

Even on your bad days you can always be creative! Have you ever got up in the morning and thought, ‘I am so bored, I cannot think of what to blog, or what to do today?’. As a designer myself, I sometimes find annoying life problems can be discouraging and depressing, and find that trying to brainstorm just isn’t enough – after all, I’m short on inspiration, brainstorming isn’t going to turn up much! So today I thought I would jot down some tips for you…

Watch a movie…

Feeling really down and totally uninspired? Watch a good movie, buy some good old fashioned sweets, get a big warm blanket, snuggle down and enjoy. You will find little inspiring thoughts will spring to mind and will usually stay with you, so you can use them at a later time. It’s often good to re-cleanse your mind and just relax.

Look, look and look again…

Remember to look at your surroundings. Many of us go through our day through blinkered eyes; try to find inspiration in everything you see. I recommend cutting a small hole in a piece of paper, pop it in your pocket and when you are alone, on a journey or walking, take this paper and look through it at the world around you, and guess what? You will see everything in a totally new light!

Become a scribbler…

Always have something to write with, even in the most absurd of places! Take a pen and paper, any scrap will do, and draw and write about everything you see, wherever you go. Write on tickets, wrappers, cans, whatever you can scribble on! Keep all of these little notes in a scrapbook or journal to flick through from time to time.

Be curious…

Creative people are insatiably curious. Like me, curious people ask so many questions! Look at the world around you and always want to ask why? How? Expose yourself to new experiences, new sensations and states of mind and this openness will significantly boost your creative output.

People watch… (in a non-creepy way)…

I am always looking, watching… (but not creepily staring I will just add, before you think I am some sort of weirdo!) Creative types often love to people watch, and it can be a great way to generate some fantastic ideas this way! Look at what people around you are wearing, what they are doing and how they portray yourself. Pin point different characters that interest you.

This is one of my favourite quotes by Steve Jobs. To keep those creative juices flowing, you have to surround yourself with creativity. That doesn’t mean you have to live in a creative city, or know other artists… it means you have to search for the creativity around you. Keep looking, and you’ll find that spark once again.

Thank you so much for writing Mama Posh! I hope this helped some of you and that your creative juices will come flowing straight back for all your blogging needs. Speak soon!