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| Balenciago spring 2013 collection |
| Torvil and Dean |
| Georges Braque |
| Picasso's Cubism |
| Picasso's Blue Period |
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| Bolero dance by Toulouse Lautrec |
| flamenco |
| flamenco dresses |
| flamenco hemlines |
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| Balenciago Spring 2013 collection |
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Sunday, 30 September 2012
Balenciago Bolero
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Malone of note
Am loving watching Gareth Malone's new series, where he leads a choir in four different workplaces. He seems to be a much trendier dresser than when these series started out, still wearing the bow tie for performances, but bright zappy dressing the rest of the time, even though the Royal Mail did laugh at his shorts! Still to come, Manchester Airport and Severn Water. Since his first series, 'The Choir', he's taught lads - 'Boys don't sing'- and The Military Wives, whose Christmas single was number one, outselling the X-factor winners Little Mix.
Becker project
Saturday, 29 September 2012
We are not AMused!
Not only have they headlined Glastonbury, won Brit, Kerrang!, NME, Q, MTV and Grammy awards, recently they carried the Olympic flame in their home town of Teignmouth in Devon, and their song 'Survival' was the official song of the Olympics, which they played at the Olympics closing ceremony.
But their eighteen years have not been without controversy. In 2002 they threatened to sue Celine Dion when she was about to use their name for her Las Vegas show, and they rightly didn't want to be mistaken as her backing band! The following year they successfully sued Nestle for using their 'Feeling Good' in an ad without permission, and the money was donated to Oxfam. However, a Virgin Airways tv ad featured the song, presumably legitimately, in 2011.
So how do Muse see
themselves? An early name was 'Gothic Plague', and just before coming
Muse they were ' Rocket Baby Dolls', with a goth/glam image. The new
shorter name was chosen because singer Matthew Bellamy felt he had
'summoned up' the band, like a medium does spirits. Their 2006 album,
'Black Holes and Revelations', was inspired by their political outrage
and interest in sci-fi and the latest album, 'The 2nd Law', is out in the UK on Monday 1st October (tour to follow) and was according to Matt inspired by listening to Jeremy Paxman talking on tv about the Euro crisis. So not quite the furry rodents Lydon thinks they are.......
Metropolis fashion
By:Mary Vincent |
The futuristic sci-fi movie 'Metropolis' was made in
1927, after its director Fritz Lang was inspired by his first glimpse
of New York skyscrapers. But the film also shows a strong Art Deco
influence, and we like to think this same look can be seen in our
'Metropolis Maria' dress above.
In 1984 a version of the film was released with a
soundtrack which included Freddie Mercury and Adam Ant. We bet even
George Orwell couldn't have predicted that.
At its first airing, the pioneering visual effects resulted in
'spontaneous applause' – at Clothes Box we can't guarantee that kind of response to the
Metropolis Maria dress, but we're sure people will sit up and take
notice!
Wear your pastels QUICK!
By:Mary Vincent
Autumn collections are featuring black, purple, teal
and crimson. Sounds like 60's rock bands – King Crimson, Deep Purple
and Black Sabbath, just not sure how the teal fits in. Love a duck!
Speaking of which my favourite is the Mandarin variety pictured above
and I plan to one day make a dress inspired by these beautiful feathers.
In the meantime we have all the aforementioned
colours ready (see below) so wear your pastels quick because they may
not be hanging around for long!
A thing or two about being a domestic goddess
By:Mary Vincent |
There's Gizzi Erskine, more like a domestic angel (she has wings tattooed on her back) who is bringing back the spirit of the sixties with her beehive and simple shift dresses. Her Channel 4 series and book are both called 'Cook yourself thin.' But that's no reflection on how delicious her recipes are!
Lorraine Pascale was a model from the age of 16, working for the likes of Versace, John Galliano and Chanel. She was the first British black model on the cover of American Elle. She's also an interior designer, but nowadays her two best sellers, 'Baking Made Easy' and 'Home Cooking Made Easy' accompany a prime time BBC series.
And lastly there's Rachel Khoo, star of 'The Little Paris Kitchen', giving the French a run for their money in cooking and style. She always looks gorgeous in vintage style prom dresses and little crop cardies.
Must be time to summon up your own domestic goddess in Clothes Box's Strawberries and Cream Chiffon Dress, the Blueberry Wine Frill Dress or Cafe Americano Striped Dress.
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Love Hats and Ascot
By:Mary Vincent |
19 Jun 2012 00:09:02
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Get ready for Ascot, 19th to 29th June, by visiting www.lovehats.com. You can 'try' the hats on by uploading a photo of yourself!
Even if you're not going to the races, you can still
aspire to the classic Audrey Hepburn style, immortalized in the
award-winning black and white Ascot costumes of 'My Fair Lady.' The
designer, Cecil Beaton, worked as a photographer for Vogue in the 20s
and his photos capture the best images of the Bright Young Things of the
Twenties and Thirties. You can capture the My Fair Lady Ascot look by
wearing our lines in black and white. Choose from Clothes Box's Humbug Dress,
Sweet Valley Dress and Brace Yourself for this Dress in Tutu Cute!
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Barking up the right tree
By:Mary Vincent |
14 Sep 2012 00:55:41
Dog tooth check, hounds tooth check or the
smaller scale version named puppytooth, is usually in black and white. A
two-tone broken check pattern, often in wool, is this season's must
have. It originated in the Scottish lowlands, but was popular as a
fashionable fabric in the fifties and sixties, especially loved by
Hipster culture. However it's also often worn by chefs in the form of
trousers as it disguises any food smudges! Vogue have been picking out
their favourites and so have Clothes Box with their new in Peggy dress for a taste
of fifties dog-tooth!
Tartan - well plaid
By:Mary Vincent |
19 Sep 2012 01:10:31
Tartan is mainly seen as a Scottish fabric used for kilts, originally wool, with a distinctive pattern of squares and lines called a sett. It is known as plaid in North America, whereas in Scotland a plaid is a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder or a blanket.
Before the middle of the nineteenth century the Highland tartans were associated with districts rather than clans, using the natural dyes of that area.
Nowadays the most popular designs are said to be the
Royal Stewart and the Black Watch. There are various myths about the
significance of the colours used, for example that red tartans were used
for battle so that blood stains wouldn't show.
Victoria and Albert popularized all things Scottish
in England in the nineteenth century, after buying Balmoral Castle in
1848. It was decorated with a heavy use of tartans and since then the
fabric has resurged in fashion on a regular basis; punks, the Bay City
Rollers and Burberry, to name a few.
For Clothes Box's latest take on tartan, see this dress by Glamorous, aptly named Highland Fling.
Paisley Princesses
By:Mary Vincent |
22 Sep 2012
Paisley is Iranian in origin, but its Western name
comes from the Scottish town of Paisley. The Welsh textile-makers called
it Welsh Pickles, the American quilt-makers called it Persian Pears.
Carrying on with the pickle flavour, in Tamil,
India, it's known as Mankolam, or Mango design. Traditional Indian
temple jewellry has a mango necklace with matching earrings. All sounds
very delicious.
Some say it began as a Zoroastrian symbol of life
and eternity; the pattern is still popular in Iran and many Asian
countries where it is woven using gold or silver threads on silk.
In the West it was popular in the Summer of Love in
the Sixties, when the Beatles brought back to the UK many Indian
cultural ideas.
In the eighties, Prince created his Paisley Park Records, named after his song 'Paisley Park'.
If you want to be a paisley princess, take a look at Clothes box's lacey skater
dress. You don't need to be rich to pick up this pretty piece!
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