21. Library of Cool

This is a photo shoot I found in Dazed and Confused August 2010. I liked how the images had been made to overlap and create different patterns and illusions. This effect reminded me of the photos I took on the train using reflections. I liked this effect so I decided to cut the images up and jumble up the images even more. I think this looks quite successful with the contrasting colours and patterns.

20. Library of Cool

My "Summer Soundtrack" this year has been Chapel Club. I love the lyrics used as they sound poetic and romantic whilst talking about modern issues at the same time. Their music videos are beautiful as well, they use lots of natural forms in the background and in the "Eastern Girls" video the fashion is amazing.

These images were taken from Chapel Club videos on YouTube.

19. Library of Cool

After reading an article on Boy George in ID (summer 2010) it got me interested in 80's fashion and the role of males and females in fashion. I found the idea of cross dressing really interesting and it fascinated me how Boy George's make up always looks perfect! 

I decided to hunt further into the 80's and found some of my mum and dads old LP's in a cupboard at home. I especially like the Blondie and The Police covers as they look really retro but the fashions and style can be related to todays music scene. 

Over the summer I discovered the film "This is England" and loved the fashions and gang culture that was portrayed in the film.
I found a photography book by Michael Lavine that I loved. It is called "Grunge", it is a book of images taken from the 90's music grunge scene including street fashion and photo shoots of celebrities. I'm a big fan of Nirvana and Kurt Cobain features a lot in the book. I think the he would be a good muse for my future menswear project. 

18. Library of Cool

I found the article on the left in Dazed and Confused, August 2010, volume 88, it features an artist called Andre Ethier, the artwork is of natural forms such as flowers portrayed in a grotesque way. I especially like the colours used. 

The image on the right is an Alexander McQueen advert taken from Another, September 2010. The colours reminded me of Andre Ethier's work.

17. Library of Cool

I bought an art magazine called Juxtapose and especially liked work by artists, Retna and Jamie Caliri 

16. Library of Cool

These images are my favourite images in my Library of Cool. The first image is taken form a photo shoot in Flux magazine, Issue 73, the shoot was titled Possessed. I love everything about these images. Throughout the shoot the male models have a real feminine edge to them and in some they wearing heels, exploring the boundaries between male and female fashion.

The middle image is a Raf Simmons advert, it felt this was a very eery and powerful image portraying the idea of restriction and being unidentifiable.

I found the images on the left in Pigeon and Peacocks magazine, Issue 1. I think that they also give of a creepy possessed feel, the lady in the images seems lost and confused which creates a really mysterious atmosphere.

15. Library of Cool

 During my younger years I was a little bit obsessed with dinosaurs. Whilst routing around in my room I came across a book about  dinosaurs that I used to cherish as a child. As I flicked through remembering simpler times I realised that the illustrations were really good. I like all of the detailed lines and shading of the images. They also have a vicious and aggressive feel to them which I is really endearing.

Images from The Natural History Museum, Book of Dinosaurs, Tim Gardon with Angela Milner

14. Library of Cool

Here are some more images of Skulls that I found interesting and manipulated in photoshop.

13. Library of Cool

As I live 'up north' the closest place to home that has museums and art galleries is Liverpool so I ventured through the tunnel to go and see the Picasso exhibition at the Tate Liverpool. Before visiting I didn't realise that Picasso was the creator of the Dove of Peace symbol, therefore it was really interesting to see Picasso's work from around this time and the history behind his work. When visiting the exhibition I was happy to discover that my new found interest in skulls was furthered as Picasso had created many pieces involving skulls and animal heads. I loved the simple lines used to create the skulls and the use of thick brush strokes and blocks of colour. 

(all images by Picasso from Picasso, Peace and Freedom, edited by Linda Morris and Christoph Grunenberg)

12. Library of Cool

At Dover Street Market there were some very intriguing mounted animal skulls in glass cabinets. This probably sounds a bit creepy but i had never seen a skull up close before and so these mystical objects fascinated me. I loved the shape and texture of the bone and all the crevasses and cracks. It got me thinking about the history of these animals and the things they has seen in their life times. 

After seeing the skulls up close I started to notice image and articles in magazines to do with skulls and bones. These are some of my favourite images that I found.

(far right images found on google images, illustration found on google images, middle advert found in Dazed and Confused, image on the left found in Pigeon and Peacocks issue 1 2010, article on Taxidermy)

11. Library of Cool

As part of a designer collection report I studied the Comme des Garcons Autumn Winter 2010/11. To research this collection I visited Dover Street Market. I couldn't believe I hadn't been there before. Some of my favourite designers displaying their work in amazing ways all under on roof. Most of the collections sold there were Comme Des Garcons but there was also some work by Hussein Chalayan and Junya Watanabe. I particularly liked this collection as the garments  looked as if the body was exploding through the clothes, this was created by using padding. It also inspired me to see the high quality construction of the garments and the luxurious fabrics. Dover Street Market is definitely worth a visit!

10. Library of Cool

When in London I also visited the Enchanted Palace exhibition at Kensington Palace. The exhibition was based around 7 princesses from the Royal Family and gave an insight into their lives. There were pieces of art representing each princesses that included work by Vivienne Westwood, Boudica and Stephen Jones. The exhibition was really magical and I enjoyed learning about the history of the Royal family. 

9. Library of Cool

Over the summer I visited the Maison Martine Margiela 20 exhibition at Sommerset House. I have always found this designers work amazing but seeing the garments in real life was even better. The whole experience was truly inspirational. The thing that stood to me the most were the concepts and ideas behind the designs, the psychology involving restraining peoples identities was fascinating and it really made me think about the way I design and encouraged me to search deeper when creating new ideas.

9. Library of Cool

These are images I took myself during a very boring train journey. At first I was just messing around but after looking at the images I realised that I actually quite liked them. The mixture of blurriness and sharp injections of light reminded me of the images from Flux magazine (previous post). I also like that in some images it looks like there are two scenes on top of each other, I think it gives a mysterious feeling to the images. In the end that train journey turned out to be quite productive. 

8. Library of Cool

I stumbled upon these images whilst flicking through Flux (issue 73) and Pigeon and Peacocks (issue 1) and was instantly drawn to them. I love the sharpness of the colours mixed with the blurred effect of the images. 

7. Library of Cool

Over the summer I went on holiday to Portugal. I had a fab time catching some rays and also saw some interesting sights that really inspired me. There were lots of worn down buildings in the town, the decaying effect was amazing and got me thinking about fabric manipulation that I could use in designs to give a peeling effect. There were also lots of closed down shops that had paper in the windows to cover up the secrets lurking behind. Some of the paper was water stained and I thought it would make an intersting print on fabric. 

5. Library of Cool

These are some cool images I found on a blog called Today Tomorrow. They are by an artist called Christian Webber. I thought it was really quirky how random objects are joined together. 

4. Library of Cool

During the summer holidays I took a trip to Liverpool in search of inspiration and found plenty of it. I visited the Liverpool Tate and The Walker Art Gallery.

The Tate was really interesting, there were lots of iconic pieces of art such as Dali but there was also many  innovative new artist's work that was really inspiring. These are some of my favourite pieces that really interested me.

This was a structure by Eva Rothschild called Knock Knock. It was made using tubes of metal wrapped in leather. This piece intrigued me at first I looked like it is standing up on its own balancing on strips of leather.

This piece is by Dan Hays called Harmony in Green. The precision of this pieces was amazing and in real life it had a 3D effect.

3. Library of Cool

I found these pieces of art in The Sunday Times supplement magazine. The collection is called the Paula Pictures by Hendrik  Kerstens. I got really drawn to the quirky head wear. I like the mixture of 17th century art with modern materials, plastic bags and bubble wrap. 

2. Library of Cool

This is my favourite image of all time a Chanel photo shoot by Peter Lindbergh in 1991. I love the contrast between the pastel full length skirts and black leather jackets and boots and chunky gold chains. 

Very stylish. 

1. Library of Cool

Over the summer as part of my summer project I have been creating a Library of Cool. It is a collection of things that I find interesting and inspiring from fashion designers to music. This is the opening page of my sketch book that got the ball rolling for my summer of being a magpie. 

I love this image that I found in Dazed and Confused, August 2010, Volume 88 as the image looks powerful due to the dramatic make up and contrasting volumous skirt and sharp metal fingers. 

I truly believe in the saying "Life's a Catwalk" and try my best to have fun with what I wear everyday. I saw this man walking down the street in Cardiff and found it so funny. This cool dude was strutting along the street with an umbrella hanging from the back of his collar. He brought practicality to the term 'Life's a Catwalk'

Roll on the Blogging

Yo yo everyone. This is the first ever post on my new blog called Dressed and Possessed. My name is Beci Pickford and I am currently studying Fashion Design at the University of Glamorgan. Hope you enjoy my blogging randomness!