Autumn/ Winter - Fashion Wishlist

So I have been pretty hectic the last few weeks, working all manner of night shifts, working on job applications... catching up on sleep and potentially kick starting SAD (seasonal affective disorder) due to a complete lack of experiencing daylight! But I have had some time to do a blog entry on my Autumn/ Winter - fashion wishlist.

I've been keeping myself amused by adding to my birthday and Christmas wishlists on all my fave shopping sites. I thought I would compile a wee blog entry showing some of the trends/ items I want to buy and where they're all from. 

For quite some time I've been wanting a fox patterned Jumper Like this one pictured from Aubin and Wills, I originally seen this last year but it was a whopping £130 which I thought was a tad steep and took a chance on the trend trickling down through the high street, and buying a more affordable version...it didn't happen :( There have been hundreds of women's versions available but no menswear items really. I have been moaning about this predicament to anyone that will listen lately haha.

Aubin and Wills Jumper RRP £130.00

I'm also pretty smitten with anything Zara at the moment. Do you ever get an idea of something you're looking for in your head and can't find it? Yeah that never happens to me in Zara... which is why I avoid shopping there as its at my own financial peril. 

Zara always gets my attention in the Autumn/ Winter season because one of my favorite things to get excited about buying is my winter coat!The last 2 years I've been wearing a green Superdry military wool coat which I felt to guilty not to wear a second year to justify the assault on the wallet. These are my favorite items on the list for Zara so far.

Zara Man Coat RRP £159.00

I love the coat pictured above, it does look a little bit 'flashy' but when you buy a designer label look at a fraction of the price is always gonna look just a little bit of an OTT. I like the russet colour as it will go well with black, indigo denim, grey etc and the fur collar is a nice touch (just need to make sure I don't look like a Russian spy and I am sorted!)

Zara Coat With Contrast Collar

This is my second fave coat from Zara which isn't quite as flash, with much more subtle detailing and a naturally coloured sheepskin collar.I thought that this one might go a little bit better with my current wardrobe and style etc.

Zara Feather Printed T Shirt

Zara Floral Short Sleeve T Shirt

I've also been looking for some tees as well that are a bit different, mainly for wearing on nights out/ smart casual wear. I like wearing smart shirts but feel more comfortable wearing 'fancier' tees with coated denims and premium leather boots, it's a bit more me. These are some of my favorites from Zara pictured above. They seem to have a lot of items focused on flora and fauna, such as feathers and flowers in rich autumnal colours. I really like the feather one, feathers are one of my favourite things so It definitely deserves its place on my fashion wishlist!

Faux Leather Applique T Shirt

Punk Argyle T Shirt

The two T shirts above are a part of a darker edgier trend which has been materializing on the high street. with pleather detailing, studding and a grungy look. Zara have taken a unique approach to this trend by incorporating argyles and plaids which is kind of an arc back to the 80's punk scene. I think these would go better with the darker coloured parkah jacket.

Here's how I would style these two looks, starting with the more casual punk look.

Outsiders by scott-holmes on Polyvore

These boots are the new Darby Top numbers from Clarks (where I used to work actually) and I have my eye on a few pairs from their A/W 13 offering, I am missing my discount though haha which allowed me to acquire quite a collection of boots and shoes over the many happy years working there.

I would also wear this look with a tartan scarf, The Abercrombie and Dsquared versions are about £45-£50, but I have a friend who has one from a Scottish Soveneir shop which looks exactly the same for about £10.

This image below shows the look I would put together incorporating the aforementioned fox jumper and Russet coloured Zara coat.

fox hunter by scott-holmes on Polyvore

I really like how this looks too (btw I can't recommend Polyvore enough for mocking up outfits/ moodboards in a hurry) I doubt I will get that exact jumper as they are all sold out online :( but I could maybe get over it if I could afford these Goby Chelsea Boots from Clarks. I really like the contrasting leather and real crafted feel. 

Anyway I should get back to readjusting my sleeping pattern and less fantasising about my wardrobe! I hope you've enjoyed reading my Autumn/ Winter - Fashion Wishlist anyway!

I Mean Business!

Today Scott loves: Business cards!

Fancy Creating some Business cards today using photoshop? A little old school marketing goes a long way!

Okay so I will be the first to admit I have been a lazy blogger recently. I have had a ridiculously busy summer with a trip to York, weddings, celebrations etc... keeping me occupied. Nonetheless (love that word three words for the price of one!) I am back online and raring to go. This last week my main focus has been updating my CV and making myself more employable for a marketing job! I decided that I needed business cards to help with the old networking and sending with CV's and covering letters etc

I scoured online for ones that I liked on vista print and letterpress but all of the templates for fashion marketing looked a tad naff, they were also very effeminate for me with plenty of lilac and fuchsia going on! So I decided there was no point paying 20 quid for something I can do myself and I get to create my own business card design too. So I thought I would show you how easy it is using adobe Photoshop to create your own business cards in my first how to guide! If you don't have Photoshop you can download a 30 day trial from the adobe website here.

This is what we're aiming for

You can leave the back blank if you wish

Setting Up Our Photoshop Page

So first things first, we need to create a new photoshop file. There are many variances on the size of business cards (people have forums dedicated to the proper business card protocol), I decided I wanted mines to be a standard wallet slot size. The measurements I used were 85mm x 55mm. To set up our page we want to use the CMYK colour mode, 16 bit. In the box labeled resolution enter 300 dpi (we want these to be a high quality print so they look very snazzy for our potential clients etc). Once all that's done we should have our blank card on screen ready to get creative!

Applying Our background

 I knew that I wanted my design to be very simple but effective, but I also wanted it to say something about me and what I do as this is obviously very important in the marketing industry. After  looking at loads of images of very twee, over the top sewing machine imagery, fabric patch effect backgrounds etc I decided a nice brown paper texture would be classic but striking. I downloaded mines from deviant art which is an amazing resource for downloading textures, Photoshop brushes and all sorts of exciting goodies ( most of them free!) So after downloading my nice texture image I opened it in Photoshop, with both pages side by side I dragged my texture from the layers panel to my business card and it now has a nice brown paper background!

 

Placing Our Text

 Next I decided where I wanted to put my text, I placed it on the left had side using a snazzy font called DYNAMO magician I downloaded from dafont (the best free online font resource ever!) I entered my name and title as a heading using the horizontal type tool from the toolbar. I done this on 2 separate layers so I could space the lines of text slightly further apart. I then added my personal information underneath this in a more conservative font Century Gothic. I again done this over 2 separate layers so I could space it out.

Standing Out with A Logo

  I knew I wanted a logo on the front panel and was about to design something on illustrator when I found these awesome button brushes on deviant art I thought a nice crisp grayscale scattering of buttons would look understated but quirky! What is the relevance to fashion marketing I hear you say? well buttons are to clothes what marketing is to a business, buttons give a garment shape and fasten everything together, the same way marketing completes a brand. That's my reasoning and I'm sticking to it! Feel free to substitute the buttons for something more personal i.e if you sell farming equipment a retro tractor image would look awesome or if you were a journalist a gray scale typewriter etc...

I thought you might like to know how to use custom/ downloaded brushes in photoshop so I shall explain now: after downloading your brushes you should select the brush tool from the toolbar and click on this icon to open a dropdown menu, select load brushes and then browse your computer to open the brush file which will usually end with this extension .Abr our fancy brushes are now in our brush palette to select :)

I then created a new layer to add my buttons. I decided to have one central icon with a few smaller ones surrounding it. Adjusting the opacity of brushes can offer even more effects and finishes too.

When I was happy with this I set to work on the back panel, opening a new document as before and placing my texture in place: I have used the button brushes as bullet points to add a line of text giving my personal networking information, such as blogger, LinkedIn etc.

I hope this encourages you all to give making your own cards a try! Hope all of the instructions are clear, any feedback is welcome also :)

Until next time,

Scott

PS. Thanks to Enchantedgal-stock and  mcbadshoes from deviant art for providing amazing free for use resources!

Gatsby and The Peacock

Today Scott Loves: Gatsby and Art Deco

Dear Readers,

I'm glad I get to refer to all of you as 'readers' now as I can confirm my blog has been read by people, yay! I have had a few inspirational adventures recently to rescue me from my daily grind in the shoe shop I work in. The first of which was a wee trip to the cinema to go and see The Great Gatsby, which was seriously good! If I had to use cliches, I would be using the phrase 'visual feast'. The set design and costume design were amazing and the whole nostalgic, trance-like feel of the film set me off on an artistic endeavor. I doubt I am alone in being inspired by Gatsby as the film has already created some serious fashion trend ripples. Everyone is after an eclectic 20's style look. It seems everywhere I look people are also desperate for vintage deco style interiors as well and it is on this note that I decided to channel my new gained inspiration.

Well with all due respect to F. Scott Fitzgerald I believe that sometimes once in a blue moon, a love can be rediscovered and celebrated sometimes. I looked back at original copies of The Great Gatsby and found some amazing little prints and since, I have been hand painting reproductions of the original illustrations. They have a very bold and almost kitschy feel.

I am also looking into screen printing variations and using art deco patterning as well. If all goes well I should hopefully be selling these online in my Etsy Shop Tipsycups and at craft fares etc. I really like the yellow ocher shades alongside black and white. I've been using gouache paint as it gives a really opaque finish and gives solid colour blocks which are synonymous with Art deco style.

In stark contrast I also visited a Buddhist monastery, (which I think I am correct in saying) is the only one in Scotland. It was such a surprise as it's tucked away in the middle of nowhere in the Dumfrieshire countryside, which is remote and quiet. What I discovered was a hive of activity and multiple buildings of worship and temples etc. There was a huge peace garden as well which was beautiful.I did, however, also find some inspiration that reflected my Deco style such as the peacock pictured below often patterned in traditional deco style.

Above is me in the middle of the peace garden, and to the right is my new friend, Mr peacock, who totally owns the roost at Samye Ling. He was strutting his stuff in a very impressive and scary manner haha.
What struck me more so than anything about the Buddhist Tibetan style buildings was how much of an emphasis mathematical skill and numeracy was placed on design of architecture and rituals alike. Such as the repetition of the Buddha figure 1000 times in the main temple, or how matras/ prayers are repeated either 100 to 1000 times. There is an underlying sense of balance, affinity and decimal precision. which I decided might be a pretty good mantra to take with me when completing any design work in the future. There you go, every day is a school day after all! 

Lastly but not least, I have also, as you may have noticed been playing about with my blog header. I finally decided on the design used which is an illustration of me in my studio space :) hope you like it!

Until next time,

Scott.

Overcoming Bloggers Block... and So It Begins

Dear potential readers

Today Scott loves: Blogging!

For quite a wee while now the words, ' that would make a great blog entry' have been rattling off the walls of my brain, usually when I'm procrastinating about hanging up washing or daydreaming on my way to work. So I decided to go for it, they say a blog should be written the way you speak, so please do excuse me if I come across terribly uncouth and colloquial...I'm kidding! 

I thought I should tell you all a little about myself before I start rambling on anyway. I am a youngish man who lives in the Scottish Borders, where I have not long since completed a degree in Textile and Fashion Design Management. Passions of mine include fashion - especially heritage brands and up-cycling/ Eco-chic labels and anything which is timeless. 

I'm a bit of a retro fiend in some respects, the only sewing machine I own is from 120 years ago (a converted Victorian treadle operated singer) not ideal for someones livelihood could/ should depend on efficient modern sewing techniques but I am a sucker for punishment. I like things that are old or have a story, would rather shop for furniture at antiques shops than Ikea although a fusion of old and new can be good too. I also like crafting bits and pieces of my own for the house. I may own a sewing machine but I've also been seen wielding power tools... All stand clear!

My humble sewing machine

Well I figure that's the basics addressed and now I can do this whole blogging thing and reveal terribly interesting aspects of my life and all that inspires in small snippets sharing all of the creative, fashionable and cultural things I love. 

Until next time,

Scott