TOWIE – AmeliasMagazine

Amelia’s Magazine | Olivia Rubin collaborates with OPI to create her own shatter nail lacquer set

OPI shatter nail polish collaboration with Olivia Rubin by Novemto Komo.

I do like a press day where you can get your hair and nails done, price so despite my lack of time I decided to swing by South Molton Street yesterday to visit Olivia Rubin, who was greeting all visitors personally – what a nice touch. No high falutin’ designer here, plus she was very good about my review of her A/W 2011 catwalk show, which mainly banged on about the high celebrity quotient.

Olivia Rubin at her A/W 2011 press day.

Usually there is a massive queue for free grooming but I chanced upon a lull having missed, by mere minutes, a whirlwind visit from The Only Way Is Essex pop group Lola. Damn. They were the ones who distracted me at her A/W 2011 catwalk show. Actually, maybe it’s a good thing I missed them.

Olivia Rubin by Liam Mcmahon.

Olivia Rubin Cute as a Cupcakes. Of course.
Olivia Rubin bespoke cupcakes by Cute as a Cupcakes. Always the cupcakes… but I have to admit these really were a stunning compliment to her new collection.

Anyway, I decided to grab the opportunity to try out the new OPI shatter collection produced in collaboration with Olivia Rubin and for sale in exclusive colour combinations at ASOS and other stores soon. It’s a great idea because Olivia is known for her bold use of animal prints and this looks a bit like a leopard print from afar.

Olivia Rubin by Liam Mcmahon.

Olivia Rubin shatter nail polish collaboration with OPI. Nice bright colours as always.

Did you know that OPI takes its name from the dental company whence the first nail products sprang from? Back in the early 1980s George Schaeffer took over a dental supply business called Odontorium Products Inc, and quickly realised the potential for transferring the technology behind acrylic dentures into the crafting of false nails. Not very sexy eh? But that’s the way it rolls in the beauty industry. Happily, OPI do not test on animals.

Olivia Rubin OPI shatter polish
Olivia Rubin’s elegant nails.

Olivia Rubin OPI shatter polish
Hmmmm, my not very elegant hands.

Since then they’ve built a huge nail brand, famed for its brightly coloured nail polishes with fun names. OPI technicians have been helping out backstage at various fashion shows during LFW, and they take care of famous pop personalities such as Katy Perry and Alexandra Burke, who have their very own nail technicians on hand at all times, except, that is, when they are sorting out my stubby sausage hands. My nails were done by Alexandra Burke‘s *actual* nail technician, get in. She won the X Factor a few years back in case you were wondering.

Olivia Rubin OPI shatter polish
Here’s a pic of my paws: the effect is really most captivating. I can’t stop looking at them!

The shatter nail polish is apparently all the rage, though in my backward way I had never heard of it and sat there transfixed as Alexandra’s right hand man painted the second coat onto my nails and it mysteriously cracked in front of my eyes: the chemicals reacting to the first coat below. After that he used a very cunning product called Drip Dry Lacquer Drying Drops, which drops on top to dry nails almost instantly. Clever, these dentist types. The shatter nail lacquer comes in black and silver to create fun effects on top of other colours.

Olivia Rubin-Rush Hair Salon Isobel
Lovely hair stylist from the Rush Hair Salon.

After that I decided to get my hair blow-dried by a lovely girl called Isobel from Rush Hair salon: love that vintage dress she’s wearing. I do wish that I could make my frizzy hair look so sleek and glossy myself, but I have to admit that it’s way more relaxing to get someone else to do it for me!

Olivia Rubin-A/W 2011

It was really nice to see the new Olivia Rubin collection up close, to feel the satin silks and admire the screen prints which she does herself. I particularly liked the fine gauge knit jumpers featuring Olivia’s signature brick and speech bubble ‘prints’ and she’s also done some lovely shoes in collaboration with Dune.

Olivia Rubin-A/W 2011

Keep an eye on this one because she’s a savvy business lady, and for sweet idiosyncratic dresses and tops she’s right on track: Olivia Rubin is now stocked in 50 stores across the UK and globally.

Do the shatter polish y’all.

Olivia will be finishing off the next collection over Easter, and her OPI collaboration should be available soon. I look forward to trying out Overexposed in South Beach, which joins Suzi Loves Cowboys and Wing It! from LFW goody bags. Now I’ve just got to find time to paint my nails more often myself.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday April 21st, 2011 10:51 am

Categories ,A/W 2011, ,Acrylic, ,Alexandra Burke, ,ASOS, ,Beauty, ,Blow Dry, ,Celebrity, ,cupcakes, ,Cute as a Cupcake, ,Drip Dry Lacquer Drying Drops, ,Dune, ,Easter, ,George Schaeffer, ,Katy Perry, ,knitwear, ,lfw, ,Liam McMahon, ,Lola, ,Nail Lacquer, ,Nail Polish, ,Nails, ,Novemto Komo, ,Odontorium Products Inc, ,Olivia Rubin, ,OPI, ,Overexposed in South Beach, ,prints, ,RUSH Hair, ,Shatter Nail Lacquer, ,Shatter Nail Polish, ,South Molton Street, ,Suzi Loves Cowboys, ,The Only Way is Essex, ,TOWIE, ,Wing It!

Amelia’s Magazine | Felder Felder: London Fashion Week S/S 2013 Catwalk Review

Felder Felder S/S 2013 by Claire Kearns

So it’s bloody fashion week again! Comes around quickly, doesn’t it? Every six months, in fact. I hadn’t allowed myself to get too excited or stressed this time around, so when I arrived at Somerset House on Friday evening for my first show of the season – Felder Felder – I was hoping they could whip me up in to a fashion frenzy. I decided to go and register first, quickly filing past streetstyle snappers taking pictures of other streetstyle snappers with birds in their hair and toilet seats around their necks. As I registered I recognised the dulcet tones of an Essex girl and glanced over noticing it was Lydia from TOWIE, a somewhat fashion week darling these days. I love Lyds and she looked gorgeous, but I couldn’t help noticing that her stylist had been a bit over-zealous with the eyebrow tweezers. I’m sorry I don’t have a picture but if you Google her no doubt you’ll see what I mean.

Felder Felder S/S 2013 by Janneke de Jong

I made my way to the ~~big top~~ tent in the centre of the courtyard and was totally surprised by how well organised it was. ‘Have I stepped in to a parallel universe?’ I thought to myself as I surveyed the calm, atmospheric room with people glugging Baileys cocktails and air kissing. Queuing was a breeze, free of shouting and angst, and all I could do was hope that the rest of the week would pan out like this.

At the catwalk, it was a similarly calm affair. That was until that lunatic Nancy Dell’Olio arrived and the photographers started to mount each other just to get a shot of her. God knows what it would be like if somebody more famous than Nancy Del’Olio arrived – you know, like a Paralympian perhaps, or that pup that won Britain’s Got Talent. They’d go wild.

Kate Nash. All photography by Matt Bramford

The lights fell and out came a grungy-looking creature who stood on a box and started singing. I had absolutely no idea, until my pal The London Lip Gloss told me after the show, that this was Kate Nash. I made a mental note to start reading show notes. No longer the red-haired, over annunciating Cockney, Kate Nash has been transformed in to a slightly gothic gal with the help of a different stylist and a bottle of hair dye. She can’t half belt out a tune though and, looking back, I think this new style really suits her.

It didn’t take long for Felder Felder‘s S/S 2013 outing to reignite that fire in my belly. With Kate Nash‘s vocals as the soundtrack, models began to appear in what has now become the Felder sisters’ trademark – floaty frocks and gorgeous digital prints worn by powerful females.

Felder Felder by Janneke de Jong.

Digital leopard print came first on said floaty frocks in pastel colours, on a-line numbers and then those with long trains that Felder Felder do so well. This was then traded for a grungier butterfly pattern in dark blues on tailored jackets and pants.

Next we saw translucent pastel blue blouses and an ethereal floor-sweeping dress in the same colour.

My favourites were th 1950s-esque swimwear pieces, some with ruffles on knickers and others covering entire swimming-costume shapes. A ruffled skirt with sweetheart neckline top had the crowd clapping with glee.

The final, show-stopping piece featured all of the above: that floating hemline, the ruffles around the waist, the pastel palette, this time in a cloudy orange, daringly split up both thighs.

It was a collection of grown-up elegance while still having that rock n’ roll attitude the Felder sisters are famous for.

Written by Matt Bramford on Tuesday September 18th, 2012 7:19 pm

Categories ,Baileys, ,BFC, ,Butterflies, ,catwalk, ,Catwalk Space, ,Clare Kearns, ,Digital Prints, ,fashion, ,Felder Felder, ,Janneke de Jong, ,Kate Nash, ,London Fashion Week, ,Lydia Bright, ,Matt Bramford, ,review, ,Ruffles, ,S/S 2013, ,Somerset House, ,SS13, ,TOWIE, ,Womenswear

Amelia’s Magazine | Graduate Fashion Week 2011 Gala Awards Show: The Winners

Graduate Fashion Week Gala show 2011-Rory Longdon
Rory Longdon was a worthy winner of the Graduate Fashion Week 2011 George Gold Award. Okay, order it’s a gold award, order I geddit already.

Just over two weeks ago I was invited to attend the Gala show for the Graduate Fashion Awards. I’ve not been back to the student fashion shows since I graduated 15 years ago (gulp). Back then they were held in the Islington Business Centre and I don’t remember much about them at all – I had already decided that my future did not lie in catwalk shows and so I only had a static stand to show off my printed textiles designs… which I had honed in the knowledge that I would prefer to pursue a career in illustration. Isn’t it funny how the circle turns? I never have been able to get away from fashion… but then again nor have I abandoned illustration. I could never have predicted then just how my life would have panned out in the years since.

Joey and Sam Faiers TOWIE by Munroe Bergdorf
Joey Essex and Sam Faiers from TOWIE. Photo by Munroe Bergdorf.

It’s been a shaky year for the Graduate Fashion Show brand – the sponsorship that was needed for it to continue was finally taken on by George at Asda at the last minute. Select guests were treated like royalty – the cast of TOWIE may not be considered the height of style in most forward thinking fashion circles but they were feted like true celebrities at the Gala show. Myself and Naomi? We couldn’t get past the cordons in the middle of the Earl’s Court conference centre for a drink and a natter with friends beforehand (I tried unhooking the cordon, the security was not very amused). Inside the TOWIE crew primped and preened, basking in the attention. Sound familiar? Exactly the same fiasco for Matt Bramford last year. So instead we tried our luck at the brightly coloured George stand, to no avail, though their PR was happy to give me their spiel, drink in hand. More than one woman was wearing the same dress… but then that’s the dangers of mass fashion for you.

Graduate Fashion Week Gala show 2011-George

Inside the Gala show area notable bodies from the fashion world were relegated to the fifth row, whilst TOWIE agents hogged front row seats. (There was one next to me, I did my research later.) Luckily I was able to snag one at the last minute or there would be no photos here for you. All of this preamble pretty much sums up the atmosphere of the Gala show, which was all about the glitz and the razzmatazz. The mannered presenting from Clothes Show stalwarts Jeff Banks (complete with inappropriate comments) and his cohort Caryn Franklin (for whom I have a very large soft spot) was at times incredibly painful.

Graduate Fashion Week Gala show 2011-Lauren Brown & Sophia Sabados, UCA Epsom
Graduate Fashion Week 2011 review-Lauren Brown & Sophia Sabados
I was excited to see Lauren Brown & Sophia Sabados – students from UCA Epsom (where I have lectured) – win the Media and Design Award (presented by Grace Woodward) for their magazine.

A myriad of famous guests (Sophie Ellis-Bexter – new album to promote, the Sugababe Heidi Range, Carole White, she of Premier modelling agency fame) were led onstage to present awards as this year’s crop of excitable graduates whooped and a-hollered. It was nice to hear everyone in such a celebratory mood… but when one of the presenters declared that she hoped all graduates would go into paid jobs straight away I couldn’t help but have a little bit of a snigger.

Graduate Fashion Week Gala show Christina Economou 2011
International Award winner Christina Economou of the Istituto Marangoni, Paris.

Graduate Fashion Week Gala show Dominique Kral 2011
Zandra Rhodes Catwalk Textiles Award winner Dominique Kral of Northbrook College Sussex.

Graduate Fashion Week Gala show Wong Jee Chung 2011
Stuart Peters Visionary Knitwear Award winner Won Jee Chung of Nottingham Trent University.

Oh my days… here I am all these years down the line and I’ve yet to figure out how I can make a proper living out of my fashion textiles degree. It’s a lovely sentiment, but it’s just not the reality of the fashion industry. This is a place where only the most dedicated survive… or those with rich/famous parents. Unless you pursue a career in the mass fashion industry. A degree in fashion is now about so much more than just design, and the UK is still the world industry leader for well trained young fashion creatives in all kinds of fashion related disciplines. There was an element of realism in the recommendation to look to industry for jobs, presumably an effort to quash too many unrealistic ‘next McQueen’ expectations. Since I graduated the choice of degrees which train people to work in the fashion industry has multiplied massively. It’s now possible to pursue a plethora of different avenues such as styling and promotion which really weren’t available when I went to university back in the early 90s. All of this corresponds with a massive growth in our insatiable desire to consume mass fashion… do you see a connection? My, how I struggle with this industry at times.

Graduate Fashion Week Gala show Felix Wolodymyr ChablukSmith 2011
Menswear Award winner Felix Wolodymyr Chabluk Smith of Edinburgh School of Art.

Graduate Fashion Week Gala show Marrisa Owen 2011
Womenswear Award winner Marrisa Owen of University of Central Lancashire.

Graduate Fashion Week Gala show Rory Longdon 2011
George Gold Award winner Rory Longdon of Nottingham Trent University.

The Gala show awards closed in a huge tumble of gold foil more suited to a crucial key change at a boy band concert. Oh how times have changed. I wish this year’s graduates all the best. More on the winners and other show finalists coming up shortly.

Graduate Fashion Week Gala show 2011-Rory Longdon finale

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday June 24th, 2011 2:01 pm

Categories ,Carole White, ,Caryn Franklin, ,Christina Economou, ,Dominique Kral, ,Edinburgh School of Art, ,Felix Wolodymyr Chabluk Smith, ,Gala Show, ,George at Asda, ,George Gold Award, ,GFW, ,Grace Woodward, ,Graduate Fashion Awards, ,Heidi Range, ,Islington Business Centre, ,Istituto Marangoni, ,Jeff Banks, ,Joey Essex, ,Lauren Brown, ,Mass fashion, ,Media and Design Award, ,Menswear Award, ,Munroe Bergdorf, ,Northbrook College Sussex, ,Nottingham Trent University, ,paris, ,Peters Visionary Knitwear Award, ,Premier, ,Rory Longdon, ,Sam Faiers, ,Sophia Sabados, ,Sophie Ellis-Bexter, ,Sugababes, ,The Clothes Show, ,TOWIE, ,UCA Epsom, ,Womenswear Award, ,Won Jee Chung, ,Wong Jee Chung

Amelia’s Magazine | Fashion Capital Profile Fashion Event 2011 Review

Kelly Love by Cruz Illustration
Kelly Love by Cruz.

Online fashion portal Fashion Capital has been showcasing their very own catwalk show since 2001. Now in their 10th season, the online trend forecasters have successfully established themselves as the link between Graduate Fashion Week and London Fashion Week. Held at the extravagant Grand Soane Hall at One Marylebone, the press release promised the best of emerging talent from London and beyond, not to mention a little nugget of comedy in the form of Lauren Goodger’s debut collection; the 25-year-old reality TV star mildly famous for her part in The Only Way Is Essex.

Kelly Love. All photography by Sarah Deane.

Holding their own throughout the show was a number of up-and-coming designers, offering wearable, high street tailored designs for S/S 2012. If I’m honest, some of the looks on show wouldn’t have looked too out of place in a Jane Norman-esque store, but the static trade show was successful in delivering a promising variety of new names from here in the UK and around the world.

Jezabel Jones by Estelle Morris.

ANAR
ANAR

ANAR by Estelle Morris.

Catching my sceptical eye at the show was London-based Jezabel Jones who showcased minimalist shapes in a straight forward colour palette of black and grey complete with sheer detailing and striking gold chokers. Eurasian-born designer ANAR also delivered a selection of wearable looks with a retro-modernist collection that featured ’20s style skull caps alongside modern body-con dresses and luxe fabrics.

Tobi Hannah by Rachel James.

Rachel Antonio by Cruz.

Other highlights included sweetly designed summertime shorts and maxi dresses by Australian-based designer Kelly Love. Undoubtedly a little too sickly-sweet for some, the collection featured soft wearing fabrics complete with delicate rose prints in blush and fuchsia pink. Wedding dress designer Tobi Hannah offered an electric range to satisfy all tastes, from elaborate ruffle hem minis to exotic printed dresses in sheer fabrics, whilst Rachel Antonio offered elegant evening wear – notable her extravagant multi-layered maxi dress in red.

Vjera Vilicnik by Rachel James.

Putting on probably the most covetable show of the evening was British designer Vjera Vilicnik, presenting masterfully hand-crafted dresses in white and black complete with ’40s-inspired shapes and opulent bursts of sapphire green.

Christina Dami.

Christopher Waler.

For those of you interested in what the show’s supposed selling point had to offer, here’s a small snippet of Lauren Goodger‘s debut collection Lauren’s Way. Burning my eyes with flamenco pink dresses and tiered peplum detailing, I’ll spare you from too much trauma with just a couple of images from the pink-infused collection…

Lauren's Way

Written by Sarah Deane on Wednesday November 16th, 2011 8:08 pm

Categories ,ANAR, ,Christina Dami, ,Christopher Waler, ,Cruz, ,Estelle Morris, ,fashion, ,Fashion Capital, ,graduate, ,Graduate Fashion Week, ,Grand Soane Hall, ,Jezabel Jones, ,Kelly Love, ,Lauren Goodger, ,Lauren’s Way, ,London Fashion Week, ,One Marylebone, ,Profile, ,Rachel Antonio, ,Rachel James, ,review, ,S/S 2012, ,The Only Way is Essex, ,Tobi Hannah, ,TOWIE, ,Vjera Vilicnik

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