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Vogue 100: A Century of Style

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This Monday I personally got my peepers on the Vogue 100: A Century of Style exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, goodness, so much beauty for my eyes to behold. Celebrating the 100th birthday of British Vogue, this is somewhat of an epic exhibition, I mean, maaan, where do you start when trying to curate an exhibition showing the highlights of 100 years worth of fashion and photography from the worlds most prestigious fashion bible? A magazine which has launched and defined the careers of so many models, designers and photographers. A hard task, the selection and editing must have been pretty intense. But this, is a stunning exhibition. Beautifully, simply and elegantly executed, with no gimmicks and no unnecessary pomp. It’s a big exhibition, I mean, it kinda had to be to do justice to the subject, but it doesn’t drag and it’s spaced to perfection so you can take in each image on it’s own whilst also enjoying the continuity and splendor of the exhibition as a whole; perfection. It gets busy and if it had been any busier we would have felt cramped but, it had a lovely atmosphere, all ages sharing the space together for an hour or two to soak up some mesmerizing talent and beauty. It is a little pricey, it costs £19 for a regular ticket which is definitely a little more than most exhibitions in the city, but is it worth it? Yes, I’d say it is, but only just. A few pounds cheaper would seem a better price. Shown in a reverse chronological order, we see the best images from the magazine now, and go all the way back, through the decade dedicated rooms, to it’s launch in 1916. My favourite section? It has to be the 1990’s room where we saw the start of Kate Moss’s career, the photography of Corinne Day and the familiar faces of Princess Diana and Posh and Becks in their heyday. My era. Loved it. Get yourself there before it ends on 22nd May and let me know your favourite era of this massive magazine.

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Four Ways To Make Your Wedding Day Personal And Unique

It’s just been leap year proposal day and, I have a friend who is planning a super-dooper wedding so, with that in mind, we are ALL about wedding ideas right now, and it got me thinking… To create a wedding day that is reeeeeally remembered for years to come, you need to put your own mark on it, make it like no other. Some of the more memorable weddings have aspects that are truly unique and have you talking about them for evermore! From bespoke menus to personalized wedding toppers there are so many ways YOU can make YOUR wedding more unique. If you’re stuck for ideas and in need of some inspiration, here’s some suggestions you could potentially use….

Make your own invitations – Nothing is more personal than something you make yourself. Create fun, personalised wedding invites to send to your friends and family; they will totally LOVE them! Consider the kind of look and feel you want to create for your wedding and experiment with invitation designs. Try different shapes, sizes and colours to really make your invitations amazing. You might want to include a drawing or photograph of you both for more personality, ones from when you were kids are always ace. You could even try an alternative kind of invite such as vinyl record or memory stick which you can record a video or message onto, that’s a very cool move. This will add a unique quality to your invites and your guests will want to keep them forever and ever!

Create a hashtag – Social media is a perfect way of documenting your wedding with pictures and updates. It’s so easy to create your own wedding hashtag that you and your guests can use both during and before your big day on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook! This will give your wedding a modern edge and encourage your guests to share their pictures. Think of a hashtag that is relevant, easy to spell and cannot be confused with something else, and obvs, make sure your guests are aware of it by adding it onto their invitations and having it displayed on a blackboard or sign as they enter your wedding venue! So much fun! 

Find an alternative to confetti – While there is nothing wrong with confetti, it’s a little predictable. So again, think about your theme and consider an alternative to traditional confetti. You could have your guests blow bubbles, release balloons or wave colourful flags for instance. Add your name, a photograph or the date of your wedding to these items for an even more personal touch. Make sure that all of your guests have a balloon or flag as you leave your venue and encourage them to keep them as a memento. 

Get creative with your table numbers – Making your table numbers more personal to you and your partner will let everyone know a little bit more about you. For instance you can have a table that is called March 4th, which could be the date you first met. Or you could have a table called 643 which could symbolise how many days you’ve known each other. Alternatively you could use characters from books and TV shows you both enjoy instead of numbers, or road names from the area you live!

These are just a few examples of ways you can make your wedding day more unique and personal. Remember this is your wedding day and everything about it should reflect you both as a couple. So regardless of whether you want a minimalist or vintage themed wedding, make sure your uniqueness is apparent in every aspect of your big day, and then, ta-da, you’ll have the best wedding ever! 

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Five Tips For Choosing THE Perfect Wedding Photographer

Your wedding photography is one of the only things that’s going to last forever after your wedding, apart from your LOVE, obvs! The food, the flowers, and the decorations will pretty much only last the day. The dress, favours, and guest book will last longer if you cherish them. The photography is the only thing you can count on to last forever, and bring back the memories which are gonna make your heart smile. This means you really need to take your time finding the most perfect wedding photographer. A photographer that you think is perfect may not be perfect for somebody else, so the key is to make sure you know what you want from them.

These 5 tips will help you to find the perfect wedding photographer:

Know What Style of Photography You Want – There are tons of different styles of wedding photography. Checking out all about these different styles, doing some research and being able to choose the right one for you is super important. You can have really formal looking shots, arty shots, vintage style and even cool edgy photography, so many beautiful variations!

Set Up Meetings – When you’ve looked at different styles of photography, you can find the photographers who offer that service. It’s up to you to then set up meetings with the photographers where you can chat through the service they’ll give you, what you’d like, and anything else to do with the big ole’ day. This should give you an idea of what to expect and you’ll be able to compare services afterwards before you confirm who you’d like to book.

Check Out Full Wedding Portfolios – Don’t just look at the highlights the wedding photographer has to show you, make sure you can look at full wedding portfolios. This will allow you to see all of the shots taken at multiple weddings. You can assess whether you think they’ve captured the right moments, and whether they are in fact the right fit for your day. Weddings by JP say ‘there shouldn’t be any issues with you looking at a photographer’s full portfolio. If there are, maybe you should avoid them’.

Be Critical – Make sure you look at the portfolios with a critical eye. The pictures might look lovely at first glance ,but make sure you look closer. Have they missed important pictures? Are any elements of the shot blurry or out of focus? Do you feel like they are too posed?….eeek, that could be too cringey! You don’t need to tell them this, but you should make a note of it to yourself when making your decision.

Make Sure You Get Along With Them – Getting along with your wedding photographer is reeeeaally important. They’re going to take pictures on the happiest day of your life, and if you don’t feel completely at ease with them your smile might not be as wide, you might not feel like you can relax. Make sure they are somebody you can stand being around for a while and that you feel you wanna welcome along on your day!

Ready to choose your wedding photographer? Use these tips, get your gorgeous face smiling, and say cheeeeeese!

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Five Products Every Girl Needs For Glossy Hair

Bad hair days are rubbish, we ALL get them, right? Some days, my hair looks just kinda limp and lacklustre and there just ain’t no way to make it look pretty. And, when my hair looks sad, I feel sad, which makes it all the more rubbish! But, I think, from years of playing around with what works best, I’ve now worked out exactly which products I need to keep my hair in oh-so-lovely condition, hurrah! Whether your hair is naturally dry or a bit on the greasy side, you’ll be able to find brands of all these products that are just right for you, so, everyone can have a fab hair day, every single day! Ready to pamper your locks? Here’s are the five products I think we all need in our bathrooms…..

Shampoo. Whatever your hair type, you’ll need to keep it clean, obvs. If you have oily hair, like mine, you’ll only need to wash it a couple of times a week. For dryer hair, you might wanna up this to every other day. It’s great to figure out how many washes your hair needs, as too few or too many times a week could be damaging it.

Leave-in conditioner. Now, don’t confuse leave-in conditioner with the stuff you use to condition your hair in the bath. All hair types need the former while only some are suited to wet conditioning. Just like with shampoo, some hair types will need this applied more than others through the week. Everyone will benefit from applying it at least once a week, though, I adore doing it!

Heat protectant spray. This is a biggie, possibly the most important hair product you’ll ever own! I would say, don’t ever attempt to straighten or curl your hair without spraying some heat protectant. Otherwise, your hair will dry out and get split ends, waaaah, sad face. Even if you are only blow-drying for a few minutes, you still need to spritz some of this wonder spray on your head to keep your hair looking lush!

Dry Shampoo. One of the best things about dry shampoos is that they often come in compact bottles, so you can pop it in your handbag and take it with you when you’re out and about. I’ve recently and finally become a big fan of this stuff! You can always put an end to any unwanted greasy roots wherever you may be! Don’t forget that dry shampoo isn’t a replacement for the regular stuff you use in the shower though, otherwise your hair sure won’t be looking it’s best! For maximum results, use it to help your freshly shampooed hair go longer in between washes, and, as a fab root booster for a 60’s kinda look. As it’s dry, you can spray it on your hair without worrying about messing up your dress!

Boar bristle brush. If you don’t like styling your hair with gels, waxes or sprays, then you need a boar bristle brush. These handy little wonders help you create great styles without any products. Not sure which style to go for? Try this diy rose bun hair tutorial, super cute, and pretty easy! Not only do these handy tools cut the need for styling products, but they also reduce and frizz and static, and, they also improve the texture of your locks, sah-weeet! There’s only one limitation with the boar bristle brush – you can’t use it on wet hair. To detangle hair straight out of the shower, use a comb to prevent any damage.

There you go! – now you can say goodbye to bad hair days for good, yaaaay!

 

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How To Find Artistic Inspiration At Any Time

I really appreciate other people’s artwork. I know how important it is to study the success of others if you want to find your own, and success doesn’t have to mean becoming rich and famous, y’know! It can just be looking at something you’ve made any being super proud. Sometimes it can be hard to find inspiration, especially when your mind is busy with too many other things. But here’s how I find inspiration when I’m struggling….

Get Outside – It’s difficult to be creative if you’re shut in your bedroom or lounging about at home. Sometimes you can find inspiration online, but other times you need to leave the house. Going out can help to refresh your mind and open you up to new ideas. You can go to a museum, gallery or library to find something to inspire you, I do this as often as possible and write heaps of blog posts about exhibitions that inspire me. It’s great sitting in front of a painting, photograph, artifact or sculpture with a notebook or drawing pad and doing whatever comes to mind. But you don’t have to go anywhere in particular. You could just walk around and see what you find that inspires you, it really is ALL around you!

Go Shopping for Some Art – I think it’s important to surround yourself with art if you want to feel inspired more often. It doesn’t have to cost much to buy something to put on your wall or a book or poetry to read. And if you don’t have much money at all, it’s always possible to find things for free. Your can order things online using stores like Cordair Art, or you could go out and find somewhere that sells things you love. Art can be many different things too. It could be a handmade item you pick up at a market stall. The important thing is that someone has put their creativity into it, and it inspires you to do the same.

 

Use Other Media – You don’t have to stick to the medium you work with when you’re looking for inspiration. If you want to draw or paint, reading a book could help to inspire you. Watching a TV show or movie might get you thinking about something you want to do. Listening to music could help you visualize a new concept or give you some inspirational words, music is a massive inspiration for me. So, don’t limit yourself to only using one medium for inspiration, keep trying new ideas, it makes for so much more fun!

Look at Your Own Work – Sometimes we start things and then put them down and never look at them again. Or we finish a piece but then put it in the back of a drawer, so easily done! Going back to your finished and unfinished pieces is an ace way to be creative. You might pick up something you’ve started again, or it might inspire you to begin a new project…. so many creative adventures to have!

I get it, finding inspiration can be hard, but you really have to consciously look for it, be reday and willing to be inspired and it will come to you, just wait and see!

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