LINDSAY D’ARCY MARTA PAREJO
Issue #1
Pretty Ugly
SHAUN EVELYN
HELEN BULLOCK
TOLLY DOLLY POSH
SANDRA JOCKUS
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Pretty Ugly
"Pretty Ugly" showcases the unseemly beauty of excessive, grotesque and bizarre Fashion + Art that redefines the natural definition of Pretty.
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Contributers
Credits Contributors Helen Bullock Lindsay D’Arcy Sarah Beetson Shaun Evelyn Marta Duran Parejo Hannah Jones Roza Hamta Ana Maria Popescu Emily Borrett Tolly Dolly Posh Sandra Jockus Design & Layout Jade Jefferies Editor Ellen Rebecca Franks
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Pretty Ugly
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Pretty Ugly
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Pretty Ugly Photoshoot
Lindy D'arcy Print Designer & Illustrator
Sunflower Seeds Hannah Jones
Shaun Evelyn Graphic Designer
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Helen Bullock Fashion Designer & Print Designer
Power House Fashion Bitches
Marta Duran Sarah Beetson Fashion Illustrator Parejo Fashion Designer
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Girl #5 Emily Borrett
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Sandra Jockus Fashion Illustrator
Tolly Dolly Posh Fashion Blogger
Fuzzy Moon
Drop the Plus Rosa Hamta
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Chiffon Top Eleanor Gall Plastic Vest Aditi Sane Striped Trousers Yasmine Browne Plastic Moulded Boots
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Both Pages Neon Jumper Stylists own Blue Trousers Aditi Sane
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Necklace Wool and the Gang Sleeveless Dress Aditi Sane Striped Shirt Yasmine Browne
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Opposite Page Sheer Top Stylists own Checkered Shirt Aditi Sane Necklaces Wool and the Gang Trousers Eleanor Gall Shoes Stylists own This Page High Collar Dress Aditi Sane Embellished Coat Eleanor Gall
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This Page Necklace Wool and the Gang Sleeveless Dress Aditi Sane Striped Shirt Yasmine Browne Opposite Page Necklace Wool and the Gang Black Coat Eleanor Gall Layered Dress Aditi Sane Green Heeled Shoes Stylists own 15
This Page Plastic Textured Dress Aditi Sane Necklace Wool and the Gang Opposite Page High Neck Contrast Dress Aditi Sane Neon Embelished Coat Eleanor Gall Socks and Shoes Stylists own
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Photographer Moeed Majeed Model Ayesha McMahon Creative Director Ellen Franks Photographic Assistant Annie Rose Hornepeddie Stylist Jade Shackleton Creative Assistants Rebecca Slater Charlotte Threadwell
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Lindsay D’arcy Print designer and Illustrator
What is your educational background and how have your studies helped you? I studied a Foundation in Art & Design at Coventry University. I specialised within trends in my final year of my degree and created an 8-outfit collection. I used the body as an exhibition to showcase my art response to the current lifestyle trend shift. It was more of a conceptual collection. My illustration work made up my print design. I then printed this onto Neoprene.
Have you always wanted to be an illustrator? I’m at my happiest whilst illustrating. But I like to challenge myself and sometimes I feel my illustrating is more of a hobby alongside a career for me. I don’t want to live an easy life I like the graft.
How would you describe your illustration style? Loose, relevant and impressionistic.
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What inspires you? I love researching, everything. I absorb what I see. Rather than copying what I see. Comprendé? That’s why I hold my own handwriting, because my work is always my own interpretation or response to something. I think a lot of designers force inspiration, I don’t. I mentally build moods for the way we are living, the attitudes and the actions we’re making. I then create a styling shoot inspired by an emerging typology and illustrate from that. The illustration is the outcome from my research, a way of communicating my findings; A language if you like.
Who inspires you? I try not to research many illustrators on a general basis. Just because I try to prevent being inspired by someone else’s handwriting. Julie Verhoeven is absolute exception. She is God.
What is your favourite social media platform? I absolutely love Instagram for visual research. I love grammers like @williamcult and @telepathic2000. They post images you will have never seen before, ever. I truly appreciate that. It’s so difficult to get some underutilised images amongst the mass of oversaturation.
Were you born with an eye for fashion? I think genetics have a lot to do with it. My parents are both very creative. So I think I was born with ‘the eye’, or the ability to connect to the right side of my brain. I like to look at ‘fashion’ as an art form. I don’t think the word ‘fashion’ does Fashion, enough justice. It has become really over commercialised as a word and that offends me. So yeah, I have an eye for art and the ability to design and put things together well. 20
What is your interpretation of “Pretty Ugly”? Individuals are becoming desperate to be individual. We’re realising more than ever that words like ‘pretty’ or ‘ugly’ are a matter of opinion. Different looks will satisfy different minds. As a society, we’re on the journey to embracing our individual and unique traits. My illustrations are disturbingly easy on the eye. Oxymoron, I know.
How would you describe your Wardrobe? Black. I do colour well, I love colour in my work, just not on me. Black kind of works with my face as well. I’m always frowning because I’m always thinking. I always look miserable. I like this trait I have though, just because it is so misleading. I’m never miserable.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I don’t know where I’m going to be next month. I don’t focus on long-term goals, because I’d just get demotivated and fidgety. Some days I want to use all my skills and develop my own brand, other days I just want to work with an array of different brands on their creative direction. But I do believe in following your path. I’ve found my path so I’m just going to work hard and roll with it for now.
What is the moment you are most proud of to date? Probably seeing my graduate collection published on Vogue.co.uk. Was a pretty immense feeling and a great start to the new chapter in my life.
What three aspects of personality do you think a person needs to become a success? Do you have these? Forthright. You have to be black and white, it’s the only way to get shit done. Confident. You can sense a mile off how confident an individual is with their handwriting. Anyone can doodle, it’s the confident doodler that becomes an illustrator. You have to trust your line. It’s the same with ‘Fashion’ design. Fidgety. I’m a fidget’er, I can’t sit still for long and I like this about my nature. I’m always looking for the next challenge to accomplish.
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www.misslindsaydarcy.com
Sunflower Seeds HANNAH JONES “Only by encouraging individual freedom, or the individual power of the mind, and by trusting our own feelings, can collective acts be meaningful.” Ai Weiwei, 2010 I often get reminded of the synergy between pure joyfulness and crushing oppression when I spot a small sunflower seed nestling amongst my jewellery and discarded trinkets. This small, misshapen porcelain teardrop, marked with three inky strokes, always makes my hand reach out. Holding it to the light, like some rare and exotic jewel, I inspect it and my mind reels backwards in time to the moment I first slipped it into my pocket. Flustered after an unpleasant tube journey and disheartened by the dismal London drizzle, I trudged into the Tate Modern, unusually apathetic. I’d heard about a new exhibition in the turbine hall by a radical Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, who had filled most of the cavernous space with hundreds of millions of handcrafted porcelain sunflower seeds, intended for the audience to freely walk across. I had to see it; I had to touch one, I had to know why someone felt compelled to do it.
My heart sank as I sloped down the incline towards the crowds to what seemed to be a vast expanse of unremarkable tiny stones. As I drew closer, my eyes began to jump from seed to seed, feverishly trying to examine the individual while simultaneously taking in the astounding volume of the piece as a whole. There was a certain presence it held; it commanded your attention and with Ai Weiwei’s recent outspoken views against the Chinese regime, it felt like people were paying a hushed respect to a brave man. Ai Weiwei wanted to use these small works of art to highlight the skill of traditional craft in China, shunning the stereotypical mass-production often associated with the Eastern hemisphere. Looped videos in a darkened corner showed wizened hands magically forming these seemingly identical seeds, with close-up shots of paintbrushes slicking stripes across each one. Each seed. Each one of those 100 million seeds had passed through human hands.
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I soaked the information in, two, maybe three times and returned to the piece, imagining what person created that little deformed one in the distance or who had painted the one by my feet with a slightly darker pigment. I went to step out onto them, giddy with excitement to hear the crunch beneath my shoes, when I saw the translucent wire sectioning off the entire body of work. Small, passive-aggressive signs warned to not touch, step out onto, or interact with the piece due to potential health and safety concerns about the dust from the porcelain being breathed in. I couldn’t believe it. As I was turning from person to person, searching for another disappointed companion, a tall gentleman locked eyes with me and with a nod, stepped over the wire and onto the seeds. He ambled across the dappled expanse, the noise suddenly deafening. Conversations stopped and the gentle gruff of the seeds against one another had become a hypnotising rhythm.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a grown man so content. I felt that magic jolt of nervous excitement and with a young mind freshly influenced with Ai Weiwei’s vision and bravery; I tentatively hopped over and joined him.
I remember stretching down towards my toes and letting the blood rush to my head as I inspected some quirks of a seed in a far away corner that no one would ever get to see. I stood up and dizzily drank in the view. Towards the back of the expanse, a couple had sat cross-legged and were passing each other seeds to admire. Closer to me, a young girl was slowly running her hands across every seed she could possibly touch, caterwauling to her Mum that she had counted ‘a bazillion’. An elderly gent simply stood in the middle and removed his hat, overcome with the scene enfolding in front of him.
Now I’m not a gallery anarchist, in fact I will duly tut at people abrading soft marble sculptures or others that admonish the entrance fee to a glorious retrospective of work, but this felt like an affinity. One by one, people from the gathering crowds started to join in and I became heady with the movement that had begun. My stroll turned into a gleeful canter across the length of the installation, picking up handfuls of seeds and letting them slip through my fingers like large grains of sand.
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If Ai Weiwei had wanted a reaction to the individual, this was it. The interaction of everyone who had surged onto the sunflower seeds that afternoon was a primal curiosity coaxed out by a thoughtful body of work. It was a glorious, organic moment that defined the necessity of art in our world. A glorious moment indeed, but a glorious moment that sadly was over before it began. The uniforms seemed to seep out of every corner and were soon escorting people back to the other side, the bleak side, the side without sunflowers. Small spats seemed to hiss across the hall, underscored by token toddler’s anguished mewls. I looked at the seed in my hand and tucked it into my coat pocket; half ashamed I was selfishly detracting from the overall piece and half vindicated that this was a moment I’d like to tangibly cherish forever. Yanked back to reality, a security guard tugged at my sleeve and firmly asked me to return to the dreaded ‘other side’. I quickly moved along, asking him if he thought it was right that the intention of the artist had been red-taped by something as impotent as health and safety. He felt it was a shame and wanted his kids to come and visit but ‘there ain’t much one person can do about it’. Missing the irony, he returned me and left to escort a young family back towards the grey concrete floor. How can something as monumental and as beautiful as Ai Weiwei’s creation be flattened by rules and regulations? Sure, next to the horrors of Chinese dictatorship, health and safety pales in comparison, but most people who went to see that exhibition hardly saw it at all. I broke my stoic art etiquette and even pinched a seed to keep as my own. Nanna’s high jumped cheese-slicing wires and ladies scuffed their LK Bennett nude heels all in aid of being a part of his artwork.
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Did having a human reaction to his work justify me actively stealing something that was not mine to take? Would I have even thought of doing that if we were permitted to engage as originally intended? The seed still remains in my possession and still niggles me every time I pause to admire it. I long to return it and I long to treasure it. The keepsake of an authentic synergy between an artist and my very own self is something I do not want to part with. The taint is tiresome though and I’m often led to thoughts of releasing it onto the beach, like some sort of captive animal who deserves to be put back into its natural habitat. The other millions of seeds? Probably sat gathering dust, perhaps being quickly glanced upon by unimpressed people, unaware of the sheer joy they could’ve experienced from those extraordinary sunflower seeds.
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SHAUN EVELYN Graphic Artist and Palm Reader
Shaun Evelyn is a London-based Visual Communication graduate from Middlesex University, with specialities in Graphic Art, Promotion and Public Relations. He has worked with creative practitioners in the Fashion Industry on a broad range of Editorial, Film, Exhibition and London Fashion Week projects. He’s contributed to renowned arts and culture publications including Wonderland, W Magazine, i-D Magazine, Ponystep and Clash Magazine. He has exhibited his work at Blackwall Studios in Old Street, London and The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, London.
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How have your fashion studies helped you?
What makes a person individual?
This is a question I ask myself all the time… Apart from a big ass debt and an anxiety condition I’m not sure.
The peculiarities that people have… Physical, spiritual or whatever…
What have you been up to since graduation?
Do you think you can you learn to have a sense of style or are you just born with it?
I’ve just got back from Honduras. Most people have never heard of it which is shocking right, because it’s a real place. I’ve been filming for a new project, meditating and working in some really poor communities on human rights projects there.
What is your dream career path?
Fashionably speaking? I don’t think anyone is born with a sense of style, we’re all born naked covered in womb juice. Other people impose style on to us. It’s sad really.
Oprah Winfrey’s PA.
What is your interpretation of Pretty?
How would you describe your creative style?
Nature and Taylor Swift.
Conceptual, my work has cultural connotations that maybe aren’t recognisable to everyone else or sometimes even to me but they are there in a lateral way. I think my work has a strong aesthetic; it’s never been about minimalism for me, less is not more. Surreal, vibrant, camp, abject, kinetic…
What inspires you? People. For me, the complexity and multifaceted dimensions of a person are really fascinating- this is why I love portraiture I think.
What defines Ugly in your eyes? Hatefulness and war and white people with dreadlocks.
What is your interpretation of “Pretty Ugly”? Liza Minnelli, naked in a thunderstorm.
How would you describe your wardrobe?
Who inspires you? Tina Turner. David Poole. Maya Angelou. So many people in so many different ways. Fashion-wise, I have had the pleasure of working with Gary Card over the last few years, his process and vision always inspires me. Julie Verhoeven blows me away every time I see her work– wow, so striking and strange.The work Luis Venegas has been doing over the last few years as well, amazing! Richard Mortimer and every cretive decision he makes at Ponystep.
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A large built in with four mirrored doors. The gateway to a magical realm called Narnia. I don’t keep clothes in there because Tilda Swinton keeps popping up on the other side and stealing my sandals.
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What is the moment you are most proud of to date? I was proud to of graduated and I was proud to exhibit at the Truman Brewery, I don’t think many people thought I would make it that far
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I don’t know where I see myself in 10 minutes!
What three aspects of personality do you think a person needs to become a success? In fashion? 1- you have to really want it, you can’t be unsure because it’s not the sort of industry you can just stroll into. There’s a lot of hard work and hard times ahead for every graduate. If you cant stand the heat get out of the fucking kitchen, bitch! 2- you have to have really good hair. 3- you have to concern yourself with your culture and engage, if you are complacent then your work will translate that.
Do you have these? I don’t know if I can truly bare the figurative heat in the kitchen. But I am engaged with culture and I have really, really good hair. Time will tell.
What are you working on now? I’m working on a moving image project that I started in Honduras with this travelling circus. Yeah, like this old worldy, grim, weird little circus with a trans ringmaster and a monkey who rides a goat - utterly bizarre. I’m also close to finishing the second issue of SICK. Really excited about that, hopefully a very limited number of copies will be published and available in the UK
Have you walked down the street and wondered, wtf are they wearing? No. When I’m walking down the street I have got Aretha Franklin on my iPod, I am sashaying hard. My mind is on me putting one foot in front of the other without tripping and smacking my little head on the pavement. I don’t really get why someone would be preoccupied with what a perfect stranger is wearing, especially in a negative hateful way.
www.shaunevelyn.co.uk 33
HE LE N BUL LOC K Fashion Illustrator / Print Designer
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Helen Bullock is a textiles based label, using strong bold silhouettes as a canvas for bold and intuitive prints. Trained at Central Saint Martins ( MA/BA), her past experiences include Ossie Clark, John Galliano and a recent collaborative project with Anthropologie. She has worked as a textiles designer for Louis Vuitton, and teaches at various creative institutions. A regular illustrator at LFW, her work can be seen online in various publications, including SHOW studio and Pop magazine.
What is your educational background and how has your studies helped you?
Do you think it is harder to become successful now in comparison to when you started out in the industry?
I did an academic degree at University of Manchester – part of which included studying History of Art, then later went to CSM – foundation / BA Fashion Print & MA Textiles for Fashion.
Perhaps harder ,,, because it’s actually easier! The social media boom means that this world has become a lot more open access ,,, which of course, works in your favour, however, conversely … the competition in terms of sheer volume as well as talent is now huge.
My studies helped me create my own creative language I guess. And so so much more.
Who inspires you?
Have you always loved Art?
Bright and Colourful people. Both in a visual and mental sense!
I was more in to dance/gymnastics and animals as a kid,,, but then a trip to the Orsay when I was a teenager left me hooked.
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What is your standard daily schedule? Changes each day – but mostly begins with me chastising myself for not being up in time. It then often entails a good while of faffing. It then often starts in my studio – or at the print room.
How did you get your first illustration job? I approached Vauxhall Fashion Scout and asked if I could illustrate some of their shows.
I think as an artist… or just as an ambitious creature you will always want to do bigger better more!
What helps you to become more creative? MUSIC FRIENDS DANCING GALLERIES The countryside The sea.
“ I think as an artist… or just as an ambitious creature you will always want to do bigger better more! ”
What is your interpretation of “Pretty Ugly”?
What are your Top 5 favourite things in life?
Something that throws you off balance and confuses you.
I surround myself with so much crap and clutter and lovely friends that everything is my favorite thing!!
Does your illustrative style show in your wardrobe?
What is the moment you are most proud of to date?
Definitely.
In terms of work... my LFW Liberty windows.
What is success to you, when can you say, “I have made it and accomplished everything I have set out to do”? I can never say that! That suggests it’s over.
What three aspects of personality do you think a person needs to become a success? Do you have these? Tenacity. Authenticity. Desire. I do!!!!!!!!
www.helenbullock.com 36
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POWER HOUSE FASHION BITCHES Photographer Lori Lefterova
Stylist Jade Shackleton
Model(s) Lena Edwards Faith Kareber
Hair and Makeup Stylist Ashni Makwana Assistant Benjamin Gay
Creative Director Ellen Franks
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SARAH BEE TS ON Fashion Illustrator
When Sarah Beetson was seven years old, she had three ambitions – to win Wimbledon, be a rock star, and to illustrate a children's book like Quentin Blake. She's come pretty close to meeting that third ambition, and has major clients in fashion, editorial and publishing.
Sarah received a first class BA in Illustration from Falmouth College of Arts. She shows in galleries around the world and spends her time living between Queensland, Australia and the UK
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Hmmm pretty ugly.... I find dull, bland, dirty colours (browns, beiges etc) and styles pretty ugly. I’m currently watching the countryside close to the farm where I live in Australia, be transformed from lush green koala habitat into sprawling grey and beige identical homes, which is very ugly to me.
What is your educational background and how has your studies helped you? I studied Illustration at Falmouth College of Arts in Cornwall for 3 years. It was an incredible experience, being in a beautiful seaside town with a great creative gang of student talent from around the globe and lecturers who are also practitioners within the field.
People who go all out to fit the cookie cutter mold and aim for the stereo-typical perception of beauty by tanning, waxing, bleaching and having surgery, yet are vapid, narcissistic and mean on the inside, appear very ugly to me. Mean spirited people and bullies of all ages, and internet trolls, are very ugly. Reality TV usually shows up some pretty ugly characters.
Have you always wanted to be an illustrator?
I think it is probably easier to define things I think are beautiful: intelligence, art, old age and the wisdom that comes with it, eating healthy, natural food and exercising, couture fashion, old things - signs, buildings, vintage clothing, things with a visible past and a story, literature, independent film, Lena Dunham, Carmen Del Orfice, Faith Tom (a little girl who was badly burned in a crib fire as an infant who is an avid reader and sweetheart, Stephen Hawking, Velvet Crayon.
When I was 8 I had three ambitions: to be a professional tennis player and win Wimbledon (until I realized I wasn’t too good at tennis), to be a rockstar (I even made my first failed attempt at learning guitar), or to illustrate children’s books like Quentin Blake. I got close to the third one.
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How would you describe your illustration style? My work is a colourful calamity that combines strict order with total chaos!
Who inspires you? There are so many I don’t know if I could pick one favourite, but here are some: Keith Haring, Antonio Gaudi, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Julie Verhoeven, Cary Kwok, Henry Darger, Grayson Perry, Martin Parr, Yoshitomo Nara, Aubrey Beardsley, Robert Crumb, Alan Moore, Antonio Lopez, Vaughan Bode…. and many more.
How did you get your first illustration job? I was ecstatic when I was commissioned by Tank Magazine whilst I was still finishing my Illustration Degree. They asked me to produce 12 illustrations centred around food for the OXO book. A couple of those pieces are still in my portfolio today. My next big job was a teen fashion editorial for Fashion 18 Magazine in Toronto. It was a graffiti inspired piece about the Barbie girl in school who the girls dislike and the boys want to get with.
Do you collect inspiration for your work? I have a nice collection of vintage badges, including an original Michael Jackson Thriller badge complete with zombies, tons of rock and pop badges spanning through the years, as well as tourist badges from places I have and haven’t been. I’m a non-smoker, but one of my favourite badges reads: “Let’s have a cigarette and piss everyone off!”. I have a penchant for military hats, particularly Soviet. I have a Russian one with ‘No War’ spelt out across it in Fridge magnets, which I like to wear with my ‘Jewish Day’ t-shirt. I have amassed a huge collection of vintage t-shirts, particularly rock tour shirts, including Billy Idol Rebel Yell, Madonna Like A Virgin, Prince Purple Rain, Live Aid London 1985 and Pink Floyd The Wall. I also collect Letraset for my work - I have a huge box of mainly 1970s-80s fonts, my all time favourite being Pump. I collect lots of other things for my art, which live in haphazard locations around my studio, including stamps from all over the world, vintage postcards and sugar packets.
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.How have you developed your illustrative
What inspires you?
style over the years?
I would say film is the greatest continual influence on my work. Particularly the films of John Waters have had a profound affect on my aesthetic, in that they have really encouraged me to find my own artistic voice and not be constrained or afraid to censor myself in any way.
Whilst I was at art school in Falmouth, UK, I was initially using a number of techniques to create work, none of which I was really in love with. During life drawing classes, we were taught the blind contour drawing technique, in which you place your pen/pencil on the paper and look at the subject, drawing ‘blindly’ without taking your eyes from the subject. This technique can be totally haphazard with moments of clarity; a mess of abstract lines with a perfect hand or eye within it. I decided to combine this technique with the bunch of other materials / styles I liked to work with, and hence my style was born.
The 1993 classic True Romance has been very influential on me — I even named my Camden Market clothing label ‘Clarence & Alabama’ after the lead characters, back in 2003. It is the candy colored, sun-drenched, palm trees and cheap motels combined with Elvis, rockabilly and ‘white trash’ culture that has saturated my work the most. 62
I try to take in two movies a day, and can often spend a day in the city cinema hopping and taking in five or six films. In terms of other artists, over the years I have enjoyed the work of Antoni Gaudi, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Julie Verhoeven, David Downton, Antonio Lopez, Jamie Hewlett and many, many more.
What are your Top 5 favourite things in life? I live, eat, sleep and breathe as well as dress like, my art. So in answer to your question… Art, Art, Art, Art, Art!
What are you next aims in your career? I would really like to create an illustrated spread for a high end fashion magazine. I have always wanted to work with Anna Piaggi, and would love to work for John Galliano.
What do you love about day-to-day life as an illustrator? I do love working from home in my own studio on the farm where I live in Queensland, Australia. It is a huge space, which enables me to create large-scale paintings, and unlike in a shared space, my pet chickens get to come in and hang out. I also love the excitement that comes with the anticipation of an enquiry or the arrival of a brief; a few days prior to Christmas, 2012, I was poised to potentially fly to New York for an illustration project during fashion week which didn’t come off, as projects often don’t, but that kind of spontaneity is something I really love about being an illustrator. When an enquiry comes into one of my agents, the terms, deadline and brief are discussed, then we go ahead and I begin researching, gathering references, making sketches, and working with the client to create the realized illustration; all of this is rather exciting, challenging and fun!
What is the moment you are most proud of to date? I couldn’t tell you just one, have been working with Stella McCartney in the early days of her label, working with Mary Portas at Yellowdoor, illustrating for major newspapers including The Globe and Mail (Toronto), The Times and The Telegraph (UK) and The Miami Herald, winning the Creative Review (UK) Best in Book prize for illustration in 2011, being shortlisted for the 2012 Metro Award (a $50,000 Australian Art Gallery Prize), exhibiting at Somerset House, London, as part of Pick Me Up 2012, and being invited to exhibit “Rainbowspective” in Paris in 2012, showing the best of the previous 5 years of my work.
www.sarahbeetson.com 63
MARTA DURAN PAR E J O Fashion Designer and Illustrator
“Are we really beautiful with just skin and bones ?”
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The Fashion Industry decides what is Pretty and what is Ugly, but should we agree with their opinion? Wearing Glasses, Braces, Having Frizzy Hair, Spots, Moles, Being a little fat, wearing clothes that are not that trendy... Does this mean we are ugly? My inspiration for my illustrations are based on what the Industry establishes on what is Pretty Ugly and my personal touch of disagreement in this society. The Industry finds beautiful being rather skinny, I have played with this opinion making it Pretty Ugly for me.
“Are we really beautiful with just skin and bones?� 65
Girl #5 created by Emily Borrett
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ALL GIRLS LINE UP!!!
MODELS ONE TO FIVE ARE NEEDED IN MAKE-UP NOW! THIS COLLECTION IS A CELEBRATION OF WOMANHOOD THAT I HOPE THIS INDUSTRY WILL REMEMBER FOR A LONG TIME.
Y R. ILL CO U M STR AT
I’MESONLY 23...
I’M NOT REALLY USED TO WORKING ON MORE MATURE FACES, DEAR.
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“
r i G
RI O AN C O M LY I
Y
A M ILY L M MB .E W .TU W W
GIRL #5! HAIR! NOW!
IC GIN MA BY AL
l# 5”
GIRL #5?
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HAVE YOU SEEN THIS DAMAGE AT THE BACK? I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN ABOUT HIDING IT! I KNOW, SHE’S CLEARLY BEEN DYING IT FOR YEARS SEE THIS DISASTER AREA HERE?
IT’S NO USE. WE’LL JUST HAVE TO MAKE IT AS BIG AS POSSIBLE.
HAVE YOU TRIED SMOKING MORE CIGARETTES?
I’VE GOT TO LOSE THREE INCHES OFF MY HIPS IN THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS, OR THE AGENCY WON’T RENEW MY CONTRACT! I’M ALREADY ONLY ON TWO RICE CAKES A DAYWHAT DO I DO?
GIRL #5 IS NEEDED IN WARDROBE!
I - I’M NOT SURE I CAN BREATHE...
JUST STAND AS STILL AS POSSIBLE AND DON’T BREATHE! THAT IS OVER TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS WORTH OF FASHION THAT YOU’RE STUFFED INTO.
I’M WORRIED THAT THE DRESS WON’T HOLD HER FOR LONG..
HAVE YOU BEEN GORGING YOURSELF SINCE YOUR LAST FITTING?!?!
GOD, IF THAT DRESS BREAKS BEFORE THE END OF THE SHOW IT WILL BE AN ABSOLUTE DISASTER! DANTE WILL GO BESERK!
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ALL GIRLS LINE UP!!!
ES
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“G
ir
RI O N A C O M LY I IC GI
Y R. ILL CO U M STR AT
N MA BY AL Y
A M ILY L M MB .E W .TU W W
l# 5”
THIS COLLECTION IS A CELEBRATION OF WOMANHOOD THAT I HOPE THIS INDUSTRY WILL REMEMBER FOR A LONG TIME.
EM
“Filth in the Beauty”
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SANDRA JOCKUS Fashion Illustrator Sandra is a German illustrator living and studying Fashion in Tokyo.
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Pretty and Ugly are not always visible but I think they work well together as in each pretty thing there is something ugly or an opposite point of view on opinion, it is interesting looking at both sides of the story.
We kill thousands of animals just to make ourselves feel better by wearing luxury clothes so how can a person only see the Pretty side of that? Cigarettes and smoke make us feel cool and look glamorous and is represented as sexy in films but it is a toxic and highly dangerous addiction that destroys you from inside and makes you look ugly on outside with the time. A smokers cough is Pretty Ugly.
Fur. It`s fluffy, warm and gorgous. All we can see is the pretty thing within the Fashion Industry, but if we confront ourselves with where it actually comes from we have to admit that it`s actually Pretty Ugly.
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Make up makes us all look and feel Pretty. We love to see the tranformation in the mirror once we have put our daily routine of make up on. Nobody wants to admit that it becomes a nessesity to put on before leaving the house and before the outside world see you in the morning. Is this an additction, has this consumed our lives and controlled our minds in to thinking we do not look acceptable without it, we feel incomplete and different without it. The sad realisation of Pretty Ugly.
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TOLLY DOLLY POSH 14 Year Old Fashion Blogger
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Who inspires you? There are so many people who inspire me. More recently though, people who are just genuinely themselves, truly inspire me. I think you are pretty darn special if you can just be you, for you. I think in this day and age, more than ever, everyone is striving for perfection so when somebody really expresses themselves, it’s magical! Whether that be through what they wear, what they do, what they say… those are the people who inspire me! As a blogger, I’m always discovering new and exciting creative people so I don’t think I could pin down just one inspiring person, which I suppose is the fun in blogging. You always find new people and ways to inspire you, which I love!
What influences your style? Lots of different things influence my style. I like to use Pinterest to get my brain working on new outfit ideas, but of course the good old fashion magazine is another great source. I’m also a massive fan of fashion week so seeing little elements here and there always translates into what I wear. Again, I really don’t think I could pin down just one person who inspires me style wise, either. I think because I’m young, I go through quite broad stages; one moment I’ll want to be in head-totoe pastel and the next I’ll want a leather jacket and biker boots.
How did you know what you wanted to do at only 11 years old? I’ve always been influenced by fashion and because I’m quite creative it’s always just sat well with me. I love the fact that with fashion you can express yourself without words, so you can never go wrong. Also being young limits what you can wear as shops are all so gender stereotypical, and I didn’t want that! I didn’t want to wear just pinks and florals, so why can’t I change that? I wanted to (and still want to) create clothes that I have never worn before. I want to create clothes that people would slip on and feel epic wearing. I think I’ve always been brought up that way; to believe in being yourself and that’s what attracted me to fashion design.
Where do you see yourself at the age of 21? I know this sounds very optimistic, but I want to have 1 (or maybe 2) shops of my own. I also want to have inspired as many people as possible to be themselves. I suppose I’m still not 100% there yet myself as I’m still defining who I am, but I’m okay with that. Learning together is what is important and it can motivate you even more!
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My main aim is to be designing and doing what I feel happy doing. I want to be living a creative life where I’m doing what I want. Can you see a theme? I just want to do things for me and maybe inspire a few people to do the same along the way.
Do you think your mum had a huge impact on where you are now? She of course had an impact in terms of being interested in fashion, and she’s obviously taught me an awful lot, but in terms of working with brands, starting relationships and having these amazing opportunities, I’d like to say that was mainly my hard work. My family has always been there to support my idea, which is something I am so happy with. Being young online is a big challenge to step up to so I’m so grateful for all that they do… especially my parents for driving me to cool locations and doing mini photo shoots… eek! I mention on my about page that I want to get where I want to get, on my own. Of course I’ll accept a helping hand here and there but I don’t want to get to the top in one swift motiown.
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What are you passionate about?
Who are your favorite designers?
My main passion is of course fashion, designing in particular and my blog obviously but as I mentioned earlier on, inspiring people to be themselves is a big passion of mine. I think it’s so important to stick up for what you believe in and not change yourself for anyone else.
I would have to say Valentino and Paul Smith… although I do of course take so much inspiration from Vivienne Westwood too! The reason I say Valentino is because of how absolutely beautiful their pieces are. I see their collections as more like pieces of art than clothes. I’m not sure whether I’d want to be a haute-couture designer yet, but if I were to be, I’d hope my designs were as truly jaw-dropping as theirs.
I’m hoping to start working on this more and more in the near future as it really is something I feel very strongly about.
I’ve always admired Paul Smith too because he does everything himself. It’s so simple and I think he portrays that in what he does. Of course he has teams of people working behind the scenes but I don’t think that matters. He’s doing something simple, in how he works and the clothes he creates too.
Teenagers and people of my age, in my opinion, struggle with this the most with things like peer pressure, so I want to start changing that and taking down those barriers.
Do you think you have discovered who you are yet at 14?
In my opinion attention to detail is particularly important in the fashion industry and he’s definitely a great example of that.
I’d like to say I have, but of course, I haven’t. I’ve only lived a small part of (hopefully) a long lifetime so I’m sure I still have more room to grow. I believe
What are your favorite hobbies? One of my main reasons I started my blog is because I didn’t really have one… I’m not sporty and I’m not that interested in music (although I did reach Grade 4 in singing), so I just realized blogging would be such a great project to work on.
I have defined what I want to do and what I want to become, but I expect that will change slightly. I’m content in who I am currently but I feel like I have a heck of a lot to learn and experience. The whole world is out there waiting for me, I just need to go out and get cracking… I suppose?!
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It means I can share my love for fashion, design and art to others who also love fashion, design and art too. I can share my thoughts and ideas with whoever decides to listen. Blogging really has opened my eyes to so many different worlds and has created so many opportunities for me that I would never have had imagined. I don’t think I will be stopping anytime soon!
What do you think is Pretty Ugly fashion? In my opinion “Pretty Ugly” is all about discovering the beauty in ordinary things. It’s taking something and turning on its head and realizing its true potentional of being something awesome. I don’t think you can ever label something ugly because someone will always see it differently. I think you can find “Pretty Ugly” pieces everywhere and to be honest my wardrobe is probably full of things which could be called “Pretty Ugly”. It’s all about being creative with what you find and defining what it’s meant to look like yourself. If that makes sense…?
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BODY SHAMING ANA MARIA POPESCU
You know what they say in fashion– one day you’re in, the next day you’re out. Seasons come and go and trends do the same. But when clothes are not everything, what about beauty? What can be considered beautiful and what can be classified as ugly? How can fashion define pretty and ugly and when does all become a pretty ugly problem? I’m sure there is not one single person out there who hasn’t felt insecure about his or her body at a certain point, and that is most probably because of the high standards seen on the cover of magazines, ads, and fashion runways. As you probably know, fashion can be pretty shallow and more often than it should, hurtful. Body shaming happens everywhere, and it puts people under big amount of pressure. From dieting, starving and going to the gym way too often, people are trying to fight the pressures society puts them under, but no matter how you look, you never look good enough. This article will show you that there are different types of body shaming, and even though they relate to different problems, they are all the same – hurtful, judgmental and unfair. Fat shaming Probably the most popular type of body shaming is pointing out fingers at the people who are not size 0, as all the supermodels on the runway. Nowadays, the ‘perfect’ body type is seen as toned, fit, skinny, and tall. But who can say that a curvier figure is not beautiful, pretty, or sexy? Fashion can, and it does, affecting an incredible amount of girls and making them ashamed of their ‘less perfect’ body. Stomachs should be flat, abs should be seen, breasts should be large, derrières should be cheeky and legs should be toned. Unless you are a supermodel, that can be pretty much impossible to achieve.
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Becoming more and more common, the term ‘supersize model’ defines curvier women who are not the usual size 0 type of models, but still hit the runway and appear in ads.
Models, celebrities and popular figures in the media are often accused of being too skinny and promoting an unhealthy figure.
The only question that remains is: why isn’t a model just a model and why does society feel the need to include ‘supersize’ in the definition? When will we stop calling a person ‘fat’ or ‘oversized’ and when will we acknowledge that it does not matter if you are a size 6 or a size 12, as long as you’re healthy? Skinny shaming
Take Giuliana Rancic as example – the television personality who created a big stir in the media after showing up on the red carpet with a slender figure. Hurtful words were said about her fragile body, and she felt the need of explaining everyone that her body is going through some rough changes due to her cancer treatment. Nothing else.
At the other end of the problem is skinny shaming. Even though it’s less common than fat shaming, skinny shaming is just another pretty ugly problem of the fashion industry.
No diets, no starving, no secrets. People can be quite judgmental, and being skinny is often associated with dieting and starving, instead of the most common truth: a good metabolism.
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I’ve met people who are so skinny you’d think all they eat is, well, nothing. When instead they indulge in donuts, carbs, and all the foods considered ‘forbidden’ and ‘fattening’. Don’t judge a book by its covers, and don’t assume one is dieting just because they are skinny. A fast metabolism is never a reason for pointing out fingers form what I remember, right? Too fit With a lot of girls keen on getting a fit body, sport and fitness have become ever more popular. But in the world where someone has always something bad to say about you, it does not matter how fit you are, there’s always something wrong with you. A lot of people are dishing dirt on toned girls, saying they are to muscly, too big and not at all lady like, when instead, they are just fit. Being into sports is a healthy way of life, so why judging those who are trying to do the best for their bodies? Going to the gym, being fit and happy has nothing to do with being a lady. I bet all these fit ladies you call ‘too muscly’ can walk in those sexy high-heels way longer than any of you judgmental people can! Not fit enough And of course, there is the ‘you-have-cellulite’ shaming. If you are not toned enough, people will talk. They will say you are not healthy, you don’t care about your body, and you just don’t look good. Pretty bad, isn’t it? This kind of body shaming is similar to fat shaming, only it can also happen to skinny people as well. You don’t have to be fat to have stretch marks and cellulite, and no one should ever make fun of it if you do have them. Celebrities have started to be more open about their bodies – just recently model Chrissy Teigen posted an Instagram photo where she seems to be quite proud of her bruises and stretch marks, and you should be too! However says they have the perfect body is probably lying, and those pictures in the magazines are definitely edited! So, as you already figured it out, there is no way of pleasing anyone. As long as you are healthy, no one should give a damn about how your body looks like. We are not defined by the number on the scale. No matter how you look like, people will talk about it. So at least make sure you give them something good to talk about! ‘You’re too skinny, you’re too fat, you are too this and too that’. This should be just background noise. You are you. End of story. No matter how your body looks like be confident, strong and love yourself, the bad-talkers will hate how sexy you look!
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Fuzzy Moon
Photographer: Flossie Thorpe Baker Model: Danielle Sams
Stylist & Creative Director: Ellen Franks Designer(s): Edith Chan Olivia Howick 86
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DROP THE PLUS Roza Hamta
The media loves a model buzz: they revelled in too thin’ and ‘too white’, delighted in men modelling Womenswear, but the latest face of fashion may come as a surprise… Taking back the limelight from their sample-sized sisters and bagging high-end campaigns, the demand for Plus Size models seems greater than ever before. With Tess Munster being signed to a major modelling agency, the world may be waking up to the need for more body-positive images. But is the Plus Sized zeitgeist a cause for celebration, or is it revealing an unchanged, ugly side of the industry? According to traditional modelling standards, anybody who is a clothing size 14 or above is considered ‘plus sized’. This is actually smaller than the average UK woman- we are apparently a society of out-sized. The visible lack of fuller-figured models for high street brands is something that needs addressing. Urgently.
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The media are pros at sharing the ideal that women below a size 12 are the desired size. High street stores are in on it tooclothes are not manufactured to global standardised measurement, meaning women wear multiple sizes according to different brands and retailers.
The media strangely views them as exotic and outlandish (She has breasts?! Is that flesh on that hip?) - they are a fad, and are not given the cache of editorial models. Worse yet are those that deem the models irresponsible for promoting an ‘unhealthy lifestyle.’
Vanity sizing is a favourite amongst high street stores; by mimicking the growth of the average woman, a size 14 is now larger than is was twenty years ago. We’ve all savoured the smugness of zipping into that smaller skirt.
Surely an‘unhealthy lifestyle’ is living by comparison to the photo-shopped images you see in magazines, unhealthy is boxing people with media-fuelled ideas of the aesthetic ideal, unhealthy is the fashion industry’s audacity to call a model ‘ plus-sized’- a model who is healthy, and may well be the size of the consumers who bank-roll their companies.
Despite the rapid growth in demand and popularity for plus sized models, the negative connotations and attitudes towards them are still very much present. Plus sized models are often segregated from ‘standard models’; they have their own agencies, their own clients and supposedly appeal to a different audience.
There’s no two ways about it- ‘plus size’ is an ugly term, it’s damaging and degrading. Let’s get rid of it. To encompass all models under the same umbrella and to promote equality, we need to #droptheplus.
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A model is a model, whether she is a size 4 or 24 and it is about time leading modelling agencies broaden their horizons and recognise that fashion can be delivered on a much wider spectrum. It is a retailer’s obligation to use models that promote realistic bodies and encourage women to love what they have. Women long for inspiration that is relatable, and that denotes the brand as welcoming to all shapes and sizes. Yes, larger models are finally making ripples in the fashion world, but brands should not be congratulated for this. Using a model who is of average size is not an achievement- it is something they should have happened years ago. While the term ‘Plus Size’ and the segregation of models by shape still exists, as does the industry’s infinite elitism.The fashion world must cling on to this mood of ‘them’ and ‘us’, before we get any ideas that our perception of beauty is just as valuable as theirs.
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