Bobby Abley | It's Childs Play For Spring/Summer 2014

BOBBY ABLEY SS'14

As you may already be aware, today kicked off with the start of #LCM and although I don't normally take much notice of menswear looks, I had to do a double take when I saw a tweet with the final run-through for the Bobby Abley FW'14 show. I'll be honest here and say that I hadn't heard much from the designer in the past (after doing some quick research, I think he's a relatively new designer to the scene under his own name), however after being intrigued by what I saw on Twiter, I had to find out what sort of looks he had planned for this coming Spring/Summer season.

Bobby Abley reminds me of younger JCDC, circa 2009. His seemingly signature mascot teddy bear and love of Disney combine together to create a fun, playful and fresh take on an androgynous style. It really does take a male with no inhibitions or confusion in himself to pull off these looks, however, I would absolutely adore any man who could do it. Androgyny is an up and coming trend which gained a lot of backing in 2013 from designers such as Veer NYC and Victoria Beckham. It makes sense to produce garments for both sexes to wear, considering we all 'cross-dress' in some way or another and I think that Bobby Abley did that well in his menswear collection for Spring Summer 2014.

What seems to be the 'in' thing for designers these days, is to have transfer tattoos on their models. Bobby Abley was no exception to this and created bird and bear designs for his show. What I particularly loved about the tattoos, was more their placement rather than the design; they were all in visible places to the public. Necks, hands and faces were all adorned with the designs and tied each individual look in well.

The collection was a grown up tale of fantasy, adventure and royalty with those fabulous leather (and slightly fetish) King crowns. I would certainly have no qualms in wearing a few select pieces, as Abley has done something that not many designers seem to be doing for me these days - it excited me and renewed my faith in the fact that maybe fashion isn't always so repetitive and, dare I say it, predictable.

What did you think of the collection?

Image Credit: Found via Tumblr and HERO Magazine

Back To Black

So there I am, sitting in front of my laptop, green tea to my right hand side, stash of magazines to my left; yet nothing seems to be compelling me to write. Then I have a flash back to NYE and my sister stating that she 'preferred' the way I looked when I wore my best friend's dress for a change. Said dress was a strappy, white and gold stripe sequin number - potentially consisting of everything that I have never ever wore in my twenty something years of existence. Why did she prefer this look you may ask? Well, it wasn't black.

Anyone who knows me will know that colour isn't exactly something that I particularly warm to. Perhaps it's the fact that as a teenager, I went through the typical goth/emo phase and chose to wear nothing but head to toe black. Whatever the reason, I have just always loved it. It's like my favourite colour (it is a colour, I don't care what anyone says), clothes-wise anyway. I love that it's mysterious, 'slimming', generally inoffensive, but most of all, it's unassuming and modest. I recently saw a tweet from one of my favourite Scottish fashion girls Cara Eve Dunlop, stating that "Modesty breeds happiness" and to be honest, I thought that it was a fantastic little mantra to live by. It also made me think about my decisions to wear black and how I genuinely feel happier and more secure in myself whenever I do so. There was definitely something to go by in that quote.

Another connotation that I immediately think of with black, is power. It's undeniable that some of the words most powerful and influential leaders - not just in fashion - have been seen in an all black ensemble. Chanel created her signature dress around the colour, Kelly cut throat Cutrone is pretty much always seen in it and even Simon Cowell, Johnny Cash, Joan Jet and Batman to name but a few, love(d) the dark side. A woman recently came into my work (ironically I work at The White Company) and told me that her New Year's resolution was to wear less black, so she was purchasing a few navy and white dresses to kick start the year. I immediately had the response to ask her why. Why do people think that wearing all black is a crime? Some of the best designers in the world like Rick Owens create collections with nothing but black. 

Over the years, it's has proved a defining feature for myself and I wouldn't have it any other way. I can understand that if everyone were to think the same as me, the world would just be a sea of black, but for the minority of us who prefer to dress this way, do not think of it as something that you need to change or amend. Wearing black is classic, empowering and can be styled in any way that you wish; so please, respect it, own it and make it your own.

Pretty In Pink: Kaley Cuoco

When the news came out of Kaley Cuoco's engagement to tennis player Ryan Sweeting last Sepember, we automatically knew that the wedding gown had to be something worth the anticipation - that's if her $65,000 engagement ring and general good looks were anything to go by!

On New Years Eve, the Big Bang Theory star married her sweetheart (after only three months of dating ... hmm) at a ranch in California. Pretty cute actually, if we just bypass the knowledge of how well Hollywood's married couples last - especially when they've only been an item for 12 short weeks before getting hitched. Oh well, each to their own and if it works out, all the better for them.

Anyway, let's get down to what you really want to know - what she wore. The dress was significantly different to the regular wedding gowns that we're used to seeing; designed by Vera Wang, the dress was a pink ball of fairy confection from the designers S/S 2014 collection and looked stunning on Kaley. Not many people could pull off a dress like it, but I think she just has one of those cool looks and personalities that can do it well. 

I did think in some photographs that Cuoco could've worn something a little more ... elegant, maybe? It's just that she has such flawless looks, that maybe another one of VW's wedding gown templates would have looked better. Regardless though, she was stunning and I don't think her groom was too disappointed either. Have a look at some shots of the day and let me know what you think of her choice!

Images from: Hello Magazine here & here