Styling For Visual Presentation | The Runway Shoot

Welcome back!

I can't believe that as I'm typing this, I only have just over three weeks left studying and living in

  New York City. Finals are creeping up on me, but thankfully a couple of my classes are a lot more hands on and creative giving me a bit of a break from all of the assignments and revision! 

Last week I completed the third phase of my Styling For Visual Presentation class.

 The Runway Shoot. 

Each group was responsible for researching and selecting a dominant trend that is apparent on the high street at the present time. We then had to put together three complete looks showcasing said trend. As a group, we decided to go for 'Oversized Knitwear' as it seems to be taking over in stores like H&M and Zara. Although we had one key trend as the main focus for the shoot, we also decided to incorporate others that we were aware of. 

Each of our three outfits incorporated layering to some extent, mainly through tying a chunky knit sweater around the waist of a completed outfit to give it a bit more edge. In terms of makeup, everything was kept minimal apart from our extreme use of highlight on the models cheek bones, brow bones, bridge of the nose, upper lip and the inner corners of her eyes. This is in keeping with the trend 'strobing' that I'm sure most if not all of you will be aware of. She had beautifully thick and defined eyebrows already but I used an eyebrow mascara to fan them out so that they became a stronger and more prominent feature on her face. For each look we decided to have her hair relatively straight in the middle parting, tucked in to the neckline of our garments as it kept it out of her face accentuating the highlight on her skin while also drawing more attention to the outfits themselves. As you'll see in the pictures below, we wanted their to be continuity in terms of the tones throughout the outfits. Everything is kept very neutral which worked out amazingly. I'm done talking for now - take a peek at the mixture of behind the scenes and final images below!

I'm sure you'll all agree that our model Andrea is absolutely stunning and knows exactly how to walk the runway. The night of the shoot was the first time I met her and she was unbelievably sweet - thank  you so much if you're reading this! Next week we'll be completing an on-location shoot with her as our model again, I already can't wait to share the final pictures with you all!

Love, Lana Skye x 

Photo Credit: Melissa Mehrtens. 

Victoria's Secret: A Retrospective

Welcome back!

One of the things I have come to love and almost take for granted during my time here in New York is the access I have to pretty much anything. On Thursday of last week I was strolling up Fifth Avenue admiring all of the Christmas decorations that have started to make an appearance, when I stumbled across a Victoria's Secret Exhibition. Like a lot of girls, I have a slightly unhealthy addiction when it comes to this brand, so the thought of being surrounded by all of the elaborate wings, decadent designs and costumes that graced their 2015 runway felt like a dream. 

It was incredible having such a detailed insight into just what goes on before each show. Not only is it the most expensive fashion event in the world, but also the largest and most viewed. If that isn't impressive then I don't know what is. Each year the show's lead designer develops a series of themes for review by the brand's executive producers. Generally, eight to ten individual themes are created, with six then being eventually chosen for the runway. Runway segments have featured dozens of countries, trends, eras and formats, always with an eye towards what is currently on trend within the fashion world while also being in touch with the Victoria's Secret aspiration. 

I don't think anybody that is even remotely interested in Victoria's Secret will ever forget the video footage of supermodel Gigi Hadid being told she was going to be walking the 2015 runway show. Being named a Victoria's Secret Angel and getting the coveted contract is undeniably one of the biggest events in a model's career. Some of the biggest names in the industry have had Angel contracts such as Jourdan Dunn, Adriana Lima, Lily Aldridge and Candice Swanepoel. 

The best part of the exhibition for me was the interactive aspect. VS have created a Photo Booth allowing people to stand in front of a set of beautiful wings before getting a polaroid picture taken that you then get to keep. As well as this little freebie, I also received a huge poster of Candice as well as some postcards.

Thank you VS! 

If you're in New York definitely head to the top floor of their Fifth Avenue store and check it out - you won't regret it!

Love, Lana Skye x 

Photo Credit: Lana Caven.

Text Credit: Victoria's Secret: A Retrospective. 

Fashion And American Politics Intertwined

Welcome back everyone!

As you will all be aware, a major decision was made here in the U.S. that is likely to have a huge impact on everyone and everything. I am obviously not American and get to return home to my life in the U.K. in just over 6 weeks meaning the result doesn't directly impact upon myself, but it felt so surreal to be so immersed in it all as the result unfolded. I'm not here to discuss how utterly mortified I am that Donald Trump has been elected as president as quite frankly it isn't worth my time or energy. Instead, I thought I would take a closer look at just how prominent fashion has been throughout the process. I only recently realised just how constructed fashion is for highly influential people, it isn't as simple as walking into Saks and picking something they like. Everything is thought about right down to the colour. 

Hillary Clinton is a lady that has used fashion as a tool. Throughout her most important public appearances, she has been wearing her now signature pant-suit in a range of deeply meaningful colours - all created by American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Her white pant-suit was in sync with #WearWhiteToVote out of respect for the American suffragists who chose white as one of their most signature colours. Interestingly, both Melania and Ivanka Trump chose to incorporate the colour into their outfits when they went to vote on Tuesday. Mrs Clinton's choice of purple for her concession speech the morning after the result most people thought would only come true in their worst nightmares, was symbolic of the Democrat blue and Republican red. 

I have found myself paying much closer attention to Melania Trump and what she is wearing in recent months. Her past isn't a crystal clear one and with the now secured realisation that she is going to be the First Lady of America, she has been making very conscious fashion choices. She is the only First Lady to have posed nude, but if you didn't know that then you would perhaps never guess as she has been seen in very conservative attire in recent years. I'm intrigued to see who she wears and how she is styled in the future. I feel it's not so much going to be her picking who she wants to wear but more who is willing to dress her. I expect she will predominantly be dressed by American designers but the Trump family have made a lot of enemies so I do wonder who will be brave enough to be associated with them as it could have a detrimental impact on their reputation in the fashion world. 

Anna Wintour, the Editor-In-Chief of American Vogue, expressed that she was very Pro-Hillary from the get go, so I imagine she is now feeling a little worse for wear. The real question is, will she choose to feature First Lady to be Melania on the cover or will she stick her middle finger up to the outcome and instead feature Mrs Clinton? Michelle Obama's December cover and interview was recently released on the eve of her departure from the White House - I wonder if Anna will do the same for Melania? Whatever decision she makes is a risky one for the magazine, I can't wait to find out what she decides to do. 

Speaking of Michelle Obama, she is a lady who has always made very thoughtful decisions in terms of which designers she wears. Two that she has worn very frequently throughout the years have been Isabelle Toledo and Jason Wu. Not only did she essentially put these designers on the map, particularly in Jason's case, but her choices also speak volumes about her acceptance of cultural inclusion, a silent but beautiful statement to make. 

I hope you enjoyed this post. 

These views are my own and I apologise if you feel offended in any way. 

Love, Lana Skye x 

Photo Credit: Google Images. 

Styling For Visual Presentation: A Little Update

Welcome back everyone!

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I had been busy prepping for a large scale prop shoot for my Styling For Visual Presentation class. As a group, we decided on a vintage looking pink and white chair which resulted in a motel room concept coming to life. We decided we wanted to create an environment that appeared lived in but at the same time neglected. Almost all of the images we came across when completing our research stage displayed a female looking sad, fed-up and lonely. Instead of following this trend, we opted to create a shot that implied said female had been waiting for her hook-up to arrive but she became agitated when waiting so decided to leave. We didn't want the room to be left without a trace of her for when he did arrive, so certain smaller props were left behind such as makeup, cigarettes and recently removed underwear. The entire set-up was created from scratch as we were only given a small space to work in. We created the wallpaper on PhotoShop and had it printed large scale which thankfully came out amazingly. I thought it would be nice to share with you all the final result of the shoot with some of our favourite shots - enjoy!

After playing around with the lighting and getting all of our layout shots, we decided to vamp the anger up even more by leaving a message in lipstick on the motel room wall. The below shot ended up being one of our favourites as we felt as though it really finalised our whole concept. 

In the next week or so I'll be posting about two shoots I recently completed in my Photographic Styling class - keep your eyes peeled lovelies!

Love, Lana Skye x 

Photo Credit: Myself.

The Museum At FIT: Uniformity

Welcome back! 

I recently attended an exhibition at the museum where I study here in New York, so I thought it would be nice to share with you all some photographs along with my thoughts on it. 

Without properly realising it, we all encounter uniforms everywhere and everyday, whether it be on soldiers, school children, flight attendants or fast food restaurant employees. They are constant reminders of the social order within society but are so commonplace that they are almost always overlooked. In terms of uniform design, the focus is on functionality, control and tradition. The exhibition was organised thematically, the focus being on four categories; military, work, school and sports. I think what I loved and enjoyed the most about it was how within each category, historic uniforms were displayed but at the same time juxtaposed with the high fashion garments they inspired. Fashion design promotes constant change, creativity and subversion, the polar opposite to that of uniform, yet throughout history fashion has drawn inspiration from all kinds of uniform. Designers often take functional features and transform them intro decorative elements. The first brand that pops into my mind in this sense is definitely French fashion house Balmain. Below I've included some of my favourite pictures from the exhibition, enjoy! 

Jeremy Scott took the branding technique of the McDonald's inform to an extreme in this look for his Fall 2014 collection. The logo becomes the main event being front and centre on the garment, resulting in the model becoming a walking billboard for the Italian brand.

Michael Kors' take on camouflage with the inclusion of bold colour combinations really highlights the key difference between military and fashions use of the print. In high fashion camouflage is all about standing out rather than blending in. 

Love, Lana Skye x 

Photo Credit: Myself.

Text Credit: The Museum at FIT.