(wikipedia.org)
So this weekend my housemates (and seemingly most people i know in leeds) have decided it is the perfect weekend to go away, therefore i am alone, very alone, and i think this means i will be making ALOT of blog entries this weekend.
I’m currently doing a project where i have to create patterns that tesselate and i chose to base my patterns on the work of Leon Bakst. I spent so long desperately trying to find an inspiration point and after trawling WGSN for a bit i came across a trend with some of his imagery, and it’s odd because i had almost forgotten how brilliant he is. The rythym and movement within his imagery is beautiful so much so that you can almost hear the music when you look at his illustrations. Also it is the way that his illustrations( as with so many others of the time) combine the old with the new, the shapes of both the clothing and patterns are backward looking yet forward thinking. you can see the art nouveau influence with the flowing sinuous forms and the prediction through use of costume that womens clothing would soon become less restrictive and more liberating. Along with Poiret and others (one of my all time favourite designers and someone who i will talk more about soon), he helped to revolutionise the way in which we view female beauty and take more influence from the less restrictive eastern world.
I’ll upload some of my own patterns when i get them finished, i’m thinking i’ll paint them in watercolour to keep them very Bakst style, which could be a nightmare as i haven’t used watercolours in about two years…but we will see.

Oh dear, I have a bit (o.k. alot) of a period drama obsession. There is simply nothing better than sitting down on a Sunday evening and watching a foray into Charles Dickens, Jane Austen or Elizabeth Gaskell (amongst others). So, imagine my delight when B.B.C gifted us with a new adaptation, Emma.
So, it’s not as brilliant as the 1996 version with Gwyneth Paltrow but it is still an excellent adaption. What is great about this one is the use of setting and costume. The beautiful location simply makes you want to step back in time and live in the regency period, and the costumes, wow. Of recent years i think this has to have some of the best costume, and seemingly some of the most accurate. There is one garment which stick in mind ( i have attempted to screenshot it but it’s not great) it is a stunning spencer jacket worn by Mrs. Elton whilst she is in church. it is just beautiful, it has stunning short puffed sleeves, which have been slashed to reveal the pink lining very reminiscent of Elizabethan clothing which are attached to slimline (what i reckon is some kind of velvet) sleeves. The stunning pink lining is then highlighted by the use of pink buttons all down the front. It’s the combination of colours in the jacket too which i love, the pink and yellow remind me of a old fashioned rhubarb and custard sweets. Things like this just make me want to go and live in a period drama, and so remind you that this period wasn’t drab in terms of colour as people often thing but vibrant, exciting and playful.
(image screenshot from www.http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00nfpsf/Emma_Episode_3/)